Royal Family Didn't Turn Up For Princess Lilibet's Christening Despite Prince Harry's Invitation

The royal family was invited to the christening of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's daughter Princess Lilibet but one turned up, reports PEOPLE. A source reported that an invitation to the christening was sent to King Charles, Camilla, Prince William, and Kate Middleton. Around 20-30 guests were present at Friday's intimate gathering but the senior members of the royal family weren't among them. Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, Lilibet's godfather, and Tyler Perry were among many who were present. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's spokesperson confirmed the event: "I can confirm that Princess Lilibet Diana was christened on Friday, March 3 by the bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, the Rev John Taylor."

Lilibet Diana was baptized by the Archbishop of Los Angeles, the Rev John Taylor, according to a statement from the couple, reports NPR. A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex told PEOPLE on Wednesday, This was the first time the couple's child was referred to by her royal title. Both children have remained a plain "master" and "miss" on the Buckingham Palace website for the past six months but that is likely to change soon. 

King Charles has invited Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to the coronation and there have been signs of making peace. He mentioned his youngest son and wife in his inaugural speech following the Queen's death. "I want also to express my love for Harry and Meghan as they continue to build their lives overseas." The comment was seen as an "olive branch" from father to son according to Wendy Naugle, editor-in-chief of People magazine per TODAY. "When King Charles mentioned Harry and Megan, in his speech, it really was monumental. It was a big olive branch," said Naugle. "Obviously, there have been tensions between him and the couple. But I think this is a big step forward that we could be seeing in that relationship."

The Duke of Sussex recently admitted that he often felt different from the rest of the royal family. Prince Harry recently spoke to Dr. Gabor Maté, the author of The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture, a book about trauma and addiction. "Certainly throughout my life, throughout my younger years, I always felt slightly different to the rest of my family," he said according to PEOPLE. "I felt strange being in this container, and I know that my mum felt the same. It makes sense to me — it didn't make sense at the time — I felt as though my body was in there, but my head was out, but sometimes it was vice-versa. The times that I ventured towards being myself, being my authentic true self, whether it was through media or family or whatever it was, it was almost like, 'Don't be yourself, come back to what you're expected to be,' if that makes sense."

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Speaking of how freeing it was to share his side of the story he added, "I really hope, and I hoped right from the beginning, when I turned around to the people that were helping me write this book, I said, 'I want this to be an act of service, it needs to be, because I know important it is, because you're almost giving permission for people to talk about their own stuff, and be their own selves, and society doesn't really help us," he told Maté. "And I would say even more so within my family, because of the expectations and because of how you're cast as individuals."