Harry and Meghan return for 1st royal family event in 2 years

As part of the queen's ongoing jubilee festivities, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have made their first appearance with the royal family in more than two years.

Harry and Meghan attended the National Service of Thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral in London on Friday, their first public event with the royal family since their dramatic exit in 2020. They were met with cheers, as well as some boos, from the crowd as they arrived. Harry and Meghan previously returned to the U.K. to visit the queen earlier this year.

Queen Elizabeth II herself, however, wasn't in attendance for the service, as Buckingham Palace said she would skip the event due to experiencing "discomfort." The jubilee celebrations marking 70 years on the throne for the queen kicked off Thursday, and she appeared with members of the royal family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

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Harry and Meghan's return to the U.K. came after they made the shock announcement in early 2020 that they would step back from the royal family and move to California, and they later conducted an interview with Oprah Winfrey where they leveled bombshell allegations of racism in the family.

Notably, Harry and Meghan weren't invited to appear with the queen on the Buckingham Palace balcony, which the palace previously said was because she decided only those who are "currently undertaking official public duties" would join her. That also ruled out Prince Andrew, who bowed out of jubilee events anyway after testing positive for COVID-19.