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As King Charles and other members of the royal family led the nation on Remembrance Sunday in an emotional ceremony at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London, Prince Harry was 70 miles away, marking the day on his own in Brackley, Northamptonshire.

Many wondered why the prince’s wife, Meghan Markle, did not appear alongside him for the memorial service on Nov. 8. Was there a scheduling conflict? Was she feeling under the weather? Well, it’s being reported that Meghan’s decision not to appear was deliberate. She did not attend simply because she didn’t want to.

An insider, who spoke to Naughty But Nice, claimed, “Meghan is smarter than Harry when it comes to reading the room. She knows she isn’t loved in Britain, and Remembrance Sunday was not the occasion to test that. Imagine the headlines if she had been booed. The pictures would have gone around the world. She wasn’t prepared to take that risk, particularly on a day meant to honor fallen soldiers.”

Therefore, Harry attended the Remembrance service in Brackley solo. One witness who saw the prince during his outing told the Daily Mail that “[Harry] was at the memorial service—he was stood next to the pub. He was stood there watching, and then afterwards he went into the market and started shaking everyone’s hand. He was there for the whole service—we were there for 20 or 30 minutes, and he was there before us. He just wanted to show some respect.”

Meghan did, however, make a trip with her husband two days later as they were photographed arriving in Brussels at the Paul-Henri Spaak building to unveil the Lost Screen Memorial, an installation highlighting 50 children who lost their lives following online harm such as cyberbullying and online exploitation.

Because she skipped the Remembrance Sunday outing, this marked the duchess’s first public appearance since her father, Thomas Markle Sr., was arrested in Florida amid an investigation into graphic images of children found in his possession. That fact is something that’s obviously embarrassing for Meghan, considering that she has been championing child safety and related causes for years.

Upon her arrival at the Belgian capital, the former Suits star was peppered with questions about her estranged father’s arrest. Reporters shouted, “Meghan, Harry, any comment on the situation?” and “Meghan, how are you feeling? How are you coping?”

And there was backlash online from people criticizing the pair for even going to the European Parliament at this time and others asking what and who they actually represent.

“Why? They don’t represent the U.K. or royal family,” one questioned, while another opined that seeing them show up there now is “ridiculous.”

The Duke of Sussex delivered a keynote address about protecting children online. Meghan was initially scheduled to join him and deliver remarks as well, but multiple outlets were told on Nov. 9 that “she was not ready” to speak publicly at this time. Harry, meanwhile, also participated in a panel discussion titled “Beyond Promises: Building a Digital Future That Works for Children.”

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