Despite friends like Serena Williams and Mindy Kaling being in attendance, Duchess Meghan and Prince Harry were nowhere to be seen when the 2025 Met Gala red carpet was rolled out.
The pair have never been to the annual fashion event, and if there were ever a time for them to be on the guest list, it seemingly would have been now.
It’s been a few years since the couple stepped down from their positions as senior royals, and they’ve been slowly making their way back into the spotlight, be it through reality shows like Harry & Meghan, or rare red carpet appearances at press summits and events tied to their Archewell Foundation.
In 2025, Meghan specifically has amped up her public persona, returning to Instagram, launching a new lifestyle brand called As Ever, releasing a podcast, and even dropping the first season of a new show, called With Love, Meghan.
However, there’s a couple of reasons that the pair may have opted out of the fundraiser. First of all, their eldest child, Prince Archie, is celebrating his sixth birthday tomorrow, May 6, which they likely might have missed if they had spent a late evening in New York City.
But another reason may be that Prince Harry recently received a devastating decision in his ongoing legal battle in the U.K. that regarded security detail for his family. In the wake of this decision, the royal and his wife may have decided not to attend the event and to dedicate time to their family instead.
In the past, co-chair and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour expressed her interest in having Meghan at the Met Gala, as well as her sister-in-law, Princess Kate. “I would love to have the Duchess of Sussex and the Duchess of Cambridge together,” she said in 2019, back before Kate was given the title of Princess of Wales.
Guess we’ll have to wait to see if the Duke and Duchess ever make their Met Gala debut.
