Mike Tindall reveals ‘outstanding’ cousins lunch – although Harry and Meghan didn’t attend 

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Mike Tindall today revealed the Queen’s grandchildren and their spouses held a secret lunch during the Platinum Jubilee – but it appears Harry and Meghan didn’t attend.

Zara Phillips’ ex-rugby star husband, 43, admitted the meal with his wife’s cousins and their partners in London after the Trooping the Colour on Thursday was one of his ‘highlights’ of the Platinum Jubilee.

He revealed that while the Queen, Prince Charles, Camilla, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and others on the balcony at the event had a meal at Buckingham Palace afterwards – ‘the cousins’ who watched from the Major General’s Office overlooking Horse Guards Parade went for a lunch.

But MailOnline understands that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who had watched the event with the Tindalls, went straight back to Frogmore Cottage. It is not known if they were invited amid ongoing rumours about a rift with Harry’s family, especially Prince William, after multiple transatlantic potshots on US TV.

Mr Tindall said of the Jubilee: ‘It was outstanding, to be fair. It was just great to be a part of’, adding: ‘We had a good cousins’ lunch on the Thursday. That was a highlight’.

The venue for the no-doubt boozy secret cousins’ lunch has not been revealed, although one in March attended by the Tindalls, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie alongside their husbands Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi and Jack Brooksbank was held at the exclusive Scott’s restaurant in Mayfair. 

In his first appearance on The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast since millions celebrated the Queen’s 70 years on the throne, Tindall also revealed there were celebratory drinks at the Palace after the Platinum Party at The Palace on Saturday. 

And he also admitted it had been been a struggle to ‘keep a lid’ on the lively younger royals, including Prince Louis and his own two daughters Mia and Lena, who consumed copious sweets backstage.

He said: ‘It’s tough for them. They’re all young. It’s a long time. But as any parents knows you just do whatever needs to be done. Louis, he was just wanting to have fun. And my two are always mischievous so it’s trying to keep a lid on. There were a lot of sweets out back though, so there was a real sugar high’. 

Mike also praised the Queen for her ‘perfect’ skit with Paddington, telling listeners: ‘I’ve always said she is very funny’. 

Louis was undoubtedly one of the stars of the Jubilee.

At one point Mike Tindall leaned over the seat, looked Louis in the eye and indicated he was ‘watching’ him. That seemed to have the desired effect as the youngster went and spoke to his father before deciding to sit on grandpapa Charles’ lap. 

Louis was also was seen blowing raspberries, shushing his mother and bouncing up and down on his grandpapa’s lap.

The four-year-old joined brother George, eight, and seven-year-old sister Charlotte in the Royal Box for the two-and-a-half hour parade on Sunday.

Dressed in a hand-me-down white shirt with blue piping and matching shorts, Louis sat next to his mother Kate, who couldn’t stop smiling at his antics… most of the time.

At one point cheeky Louis thumbed his nose at her and stuck his tongue out. He then put his little hand over her mouth as she told him to stop.

24 hours earlier Harry and Meghan threw a birthday party for their daughter Lilibet, who turned one.

A spokesman for the couple did not name family members who attended the party, but Zara and Mike Tindall are believed to have made an appearance. The Sussexes left for their California home the following day. 

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children were also invited – but were in Cardiff representing the Queen. It is reported they spent no private time with the Sussexes full stop.

Harry and Meghan have given the world a rare glimpse of Lilibet – and the grace-and-favour Windsor home they left for LA – as it is understood they were banned from photographing the one-year-old meeting the Queen for the first time.

The Sussexes released a picture taken as the little girl – named in tribute to the Queen, whose childhood nickname was Lilibet – in the grounds of Frogmore Cottage where she celebrated her first birthday at Windsor on Saturday with birthday cake, balloons, party games and picnic snacks. 

Among the gifts were apparently a pastel pink VW Beetle ride-on car, £75 from Selfridges, while Sussex supporters donated $100,000 to charity in her honour. Prince Charles may have bought her a swing similar to one he bought for Prince George – after an aide to the Sussexes was seen unloading it from their private jet in Santa Barbara.

It was claimed that the Queen banned Harry and Meghan from having a photographer capture the Monarch meeting her great-granddaughter Lilibet for the first time. The photographer has not been named – but it may be their friend Misan Harriman, who has photographed the Sussexes several times since they became a couple around six years ago. 

Investigative journalist Tom Bower, who is working on a biography of the Duchess of Sussex, said: ‘Meghan must have been furious when she heard that photographs of their Windsor meeting were forbidden. Banned from the balcony for Trooping the Colour, no shot of her with the Queen in St Paul’s and then the final blow was no shot of Lilibet with her great-grandmother. Finally, the Palace is playing a good hand’.

He added: ‘The Sussexes’ contract with Netflix is in jeopardy. The veto of photos will fuel the Sussexes’ resentment. Harry’s reprisal could be more revelations in his book billed to be published later this year. This is a dangerous game for both sides’.

Angela Levin, Prince Harry’s biographer, told MailOnline: ‘It is an incredible cheek. It is too incredible for words to have put pressure on his grandmother when she’s struggling to move during four days of celebrations where huge demands are being put on her. It’s even more of a strain when you are 96-years-old. The Jubilee is her last efforts as monarch, and yet Harry asks for time with her when she can’t say no’.

Harry and Meghan did not spend any private time with Prince William, Kate, George, Charlotte and Louis during the Jubilee, according to Page Six, and William’s family is unlikely to have met Lilibet at all. An insider said the relationship between the brothers remains ‘fraught’ after the Sussexes’ transatlantic ‘truth bombs’ about the Royal Family on Oprah and friendly podcasts in the US.

However, Lilibet met Her Majesty ‘on more than one occasion’ and Prince Charles and Camilla also spent some time with the couple before they returned to California on Sunday, according to Harry and Meghan’s friend Omid Scobie.

Ms Levin said: ‘They should have stayed for a few days afterwards, spent time with the Queen after her duties had finished, tried to make things right with William. They would have had the time – but they chose to rush in and rush out’. She also suggested that Harry appeared to have ‘lost all respect for anybody now’, adding: ‘All his impatience and self destruction is visible. He can’t hide it’.

In the first public picture of Lilibet since she was a babe-in-arms, it revealed that Her Majesty’s great-granddaughter smiling and dressed in a pale blue frock with a white bow in her strawberry blonde hair. 

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex invited close friends and family to an ‘intimate backyard picnic’ while in Britain for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, before jetting home to California on Sunday. 

The image of Lilibet sitting happily on the grass was taken by family friend Mr Harriman, who also shared an image of Meghan holding her daughter inside Frogmore – the home they spent £2.4million of taxpayers’ money refurbishing before quitting as royals and emigrating. 

Mother and her red-haired daughter were posing with the photographer’s blonde wife Camilla Holmstroem, a former Goldman Sachs banker turned entrepreneur, and their two daughters, who both had their faces painted, one of the activities laid on for guests. But while Mr Harriman also shared a picture of him smiling with his eldest child on Instagram and Twitter, there were no pictures of Harry and Archie released.

The 96-year-old is said to have met Harry and Meghan’s daughter on Thursday. However, they were allegedly told ‘no chance’ of an official photo because it was a ‘private family meeting’, The Sun reported. Palace insiders may have worried any photos taken by Harry and Meghan would be shared with TV networks in the US or in Harry’s upcoming memoirs.

On Saturday they enjoyed the British summer sunshine to throw a birthday picnic for their daughter’s first birthday. East London baker Claire Ptak – who made the couple’s wedding cake in 2018 – created new treats for the low-key bash. She later shared a picture of a small peony-covered cake that could be the one enjoyed by guests.

A spokesman for the couple did not name family members who attended the party, but Zara and Mike Tindall are believed to have made an appearance. But Prince William, Kate, George and Charlotte were in Wales representing the Queen.

The Sussexes left for their California home the following day – on a gas-guzzling private jet – before the grand finale of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee even began on Sunday.

Mr Harriman took the portraits used by the Sussexes to announce Meghan’s pregnancy with Lilibet in February 2021. 

Those who are said to have also been at Frogmore Cottage include Zara and Mike Tindall’s three children, Mia, eight, Lena, three, and Lucas, one, as well as Savannah, 11, and Isla, 10, daughters of Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly.

Three-year-old Archie’s godfather, Charlie Van Straubenzee, and his brother Tom, godfather to Princess Charlotte, were also invited, it is understood. 

Photographer Mr Harriman wrote on her Twitter: ‘It was such a privilege to celebrate the first birthday of Lilibet with my family and hers! Joy and face painting all around.’

Twitter royal commentator and friend of the Sussexes Omid Scobie said the couple invited close friends and family for an ‘intimate backyard picnic’ as he posted the picture. 

Mr Scobie added that Harry and Meghan’s wedding baker Claire Ptak made a special order for the party.

And was told by a spokesperson for the couple that they ‘remain incredibly touched by the countless birthday wishes for their daughter’ and have also been ‘amazed’ to learn that $100K (£79,000) was donated in Lilibet’s honour.  

The funds went to World Central Kitchen, a not-for-profit organisation partnered with the couple’s Archewell foundation, according to a spokesperson for the Sussexes.

The organisation has provided support in Uvalde, Texas and Ukraine, the spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for the couple did not name specific family members who attended the event. 

A source spoke to The Sun, about the party, saying: ‘It was a lovely do and had everything you’d expect from a child’s birthday party.

‘The idea was for it to be very relaxed and casual, with people free to pop in and out as they wished.’

They said that it was a ‘nice opportunity’ for some of the royal children to meet little Lilibet, with this trip being her first time in the UK.

They added that ‘lots of discussion’ had been had about the best gifts for the ‘milestone’ birthday, with a ‘£75 pink Volkswagen Beetle ride-on toy’ proving a popular idea.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle left the Platinum Jubilee early – missing the Pageant and the Queen on the balcony yesterday – as they flew back in a private jet to California with luggage that appeared to include a wooden swing set which looked similar to the one gifted to William and Kate by Prince Charles. 

The California couple released the photograph hours after the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge put pictures on social media showing hidden moments from the Jubilee including new pictures of Louis with his father, William, and Kate and the children including Princess Charlotte and Prince George waiting in a doorway. 

The Queen, Prince Charles and Camilla, Kate Middleton and Prince William shared their greetings on social media at the exact same time. 

The official Twitter account for the Queen posted: ‘Wishing Lilibet a very Happy 1st Birthday!’,  the  account for Prince Charles shared an almost identical message.

The words posted on the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall’s social media read: ‘Wishing Lilibet a very happy 1st birthday today’ along with a cake emoji.

It is also very likely that Prince Charles met his grandchildren. It is understood that he and Camilla met Harry and Meghan privately. 

It comes after George Northwood, the Duchess’ hairdresser, who recently jetted out to the Netherlands to do Meghan’s beauty while she attended the Invictus Games with husband, shared a post on Instagram with several images of the Duchess. 

In a gushing caption, he posted: ‘So nostalgic and wonderful to be reunited Harry, Meghan and their family in the UK. Archie has grown to be the cutest, well mannered little boy and Lilibet is just beautiful.’

It comes after Harry and Meghan’s entourage were seen with a blue child-size scooter and wooden swing set which looked similar to the one gifted to William and Kate by Prince Charles. 

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex appear to have come home with presents from their family after they left the Platinum Jubilee before festivities ended on Sunday and missed the Queen on the balcony. 

A member of their team was seen carrying a wooden swing with rope coming out of it and covered by a blue wrapping as Harry and Meghan’s team loaded their luggage from Santa Barbara Airport as their private jet touched down on Sunday evening. 

Another assistant was seen reaching for a blue scooter that was sitting on top of a suitcase to put it into an SUV which further indicated that Lilibet and Archie, who were not seen during the Jubilee, accompanied their parents. 

It was also reported that the Queen did meet her namesake for the first time as the Sussexes joined Her Majesty on Thursday or Friday and was invited to Lilibet’s first birthday at Frogmore Cottage.