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Meghan Markle won’t be walking the red carpet at this year’s Met Gala. But her absence from the exclusive event might not be the snub that some people think it is. 

Meghan Markle’s Met Gala snub is ‘humiliating,’ sources say

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The Duchess of Sussex is one of a number of celebs who has never attended the high-fashion celebration. According to some, it’s because she’s failed to fully win over Vogue’s Anna Wintour, who is known for carefully curating the guest list for the gala. 

When an invitation to this year’s Met Gala failed to materialize, Meghan was reportedly clinging to the idea that it might have gotten lost in the mail.

“Meghan’s holding out for a last-minute change,” an insider told Radar Online in late April. “But the longer it goes on, the harder it is to ignore that yet again she and Harry have not been included in the cool crowd. It’s humiliating.”

Why not invite Meghan and Prince Harry? One source claims they’re just no fun at parties. 

“People are just kind of over her. She sucks the air out of every room and makes it about herself. Anna does not want that,” the anonymous insider claimed. 

Duchess of Sussex might be putting her kids first

Despite reports of getting the cold shoulder from fashion’s in-crowd, Meghan might not actually be fretting all that much about not getting an invite to the coveted invite. After there were reports she was snubbed last year, various sources noted that the event – which took place on May 5 – conflicted with her son Archie’s sixth birthday the next day. Prince Harry also had a prior engagement in Las Vegas on May 6. With Meghan making it clear that she puts her kids first, she might not have wanted to attend an event on the other side of the country the day before her child’s special day.

This year’s Met Gala is taking place on May 4, so the birthday conflict is less pressing. But the Suits star already spent the weekend away from her children when she made a solo trip to Chicago to attend her godson’s First Communion.

As for reports that the Duchess and Anna Wintour don’t get along, those appear to be exaggerated. The two were spotted greeting each other warmly at Paris Fashion Week in October 2025. And Wintour has previously expressed interest in getting Meghan or another royal to attend the Met Gala. 

“I would love to have the Duchess of Sussex and the Duchess of Cambridge together,” she said in 2019, according to Harper’s Bazaar.

This year’s Met Gala is controversial 

Meghan may also not be losing sleep over missing out on this year’s Met Gala for another reason. This year, Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, are honorary chairs and official sponsors of the Costume Institute Benefit. That’s sparked protest, and Meghan and Harry can avoid being pulled into the drama by not attending. 

The Amazon founder’s involvement has also reportedly led several A-listers to decline invites, including Zendaya and Meryl Streep (who plays a thinly veiled version of Wintour in The Devil Wears Prada and The Devil Wears Prada 2.) And while New York City mayor have attended the event in the past, the recently elected Zohran Mamdani is sitting this year’s gala out. 

“My hat is off to the mayor for not attending,” former mayoral candidate and Sex and the City star Cynthia Nixon told The New York Times (via The Daily Beast). ““The Met Gala is now giving Bezos exactly the kind of reputation laundering and cultural rocket fuel he needs to keep destroying America.”

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