Royal fans were disappointed when Meghan Markle didn't make an appearance at this year's Met Gala, and there has been some speculation about the reason why she missed the event.
The Duchess of Sussex was rumoured to be making her debut at Monday's red carpet, but she did not attend it. The event, one of the biggest in the celeb calendar, came as her husband Prince Harry was making his final preparations to travel to the UK for the King's Coronation tomorrow.
It is understood that one of the reasons why Meghan and Harry did not attend the Met Gala, which celebrated the late fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, was the amount of security they would need at the celebrity-packed event.
A PR expert claimed the reason why they missed the event was that Meghan would not have been the " biggest player in the room ".
Kieran Elsby, director of Media Global PR, said her no-show would have been something he would have recommended, saying the public are "very tired of her and Harry".
A royal insider, however, said there may be a whole different reason why Meghan skipped the event, which is that other celebrities did not want the Sussexes to steal the limelight.
Kinsey Schofield told the Express : "I don't know if Meghan would even be invited to the Met Gala at this point. The Sussex brand has turned quite toxic in the States for a number of reasons.
"Not only would all eyes be on Harry and Meghan, taking attention away from the usual suspects, I think celebrities fear that conversations had with the couple will be repeated."
Back in 2018, Harry and Meghan almost served as Oscars hosts but security risks prevented it from happening, according to reports.
"There were calls back and forth between teams, some early fashion queries were even made," gossip blogger Elaine Lui wrote on LaineyGossip at the time.
She added: "They couldn't make it work. My sources told me, though the willingness was strong on both sides, it's very unlikely that it will happen."
The theme for this year's Met Gala centred around fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld.
The subsequent exhibition, titled 'Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty', will celebrate the late style icon's work at Balmain, Patou, Chloé, Fendi, Chanel, and his eponymous label.
While Met Gala veterans such as Kim Kardashian confirmed their attendance prior to the fundraiser, Meghan's possible attendance on the famous red carpet was shrouded in secrecy.
Many fashion PR experts suggested Anna Wintour, a chairwoman of the Gala event since 1995, would be keen to snub the Duchess of Sussex, but some argued Meghan was the perfect fit for the Vogue editor's brand.
"Kim [Kardashian] is famous for being famous and a controversial figure, and so is Meghan," Matt Yafonsky told the Mirror earlier this year when discussing the chances of Meghan walking the Met Gala red carpet.
"It makes sense Vogue would invite two controversial celebrities. They guarantee press attention, which guarantees eyeballs, which guarantees advertisers money. It may be classy, but it's still all about the Benjamins at the end of the day."
