Queen Elizabeth broke a decades-old tradition by excluding Prince Harry and Meghan Markle from the most iconic part of the Jubilee celebrations

• Only working royals will join the Queen on the balcony at Trooping the Colour this year.
• Non-working royals were previously allowed to attend the centuries-old event.

Queen Elizabeth II broke a royal tradition by announcing that non-working royals will not appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony at the Trooping the Colour parade in June.

The parade, which takes place every year for the monarch's birthday, will celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee in June, which marks her 70 years on the throne.

It is a tradition for the royal family to gather to watch a flyover by the Royal Air Force from the balcony, and in previous years non-working royals including Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie have attended. But that will not be the case this year, according to a statement sent to Insider by Buckingham Palace on Friday.

"After careful consideration, The Queen has decided this year's traditional Trooping the Colour balcony appearance on Thursday 2nd June will be limited to Her Majesty and those Members of the Royal Family who are currently undertaking official public duties on behalf of The Queen," the statement reads.

The list of people invited to join the Queen on the balcony include the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children, the Earl and Countess of Wessex and their children, the Princess Royal and Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke of Kent, and Princess Alexandra, the statement added.

A palace spokesperson told Insider that the statement is "self explanatory" and that no further comment would be issued on the reasons behind the decision.

Although Prince Harry and Meghan Markle — who attended the parade before they quit royal duties in April 2020 — will not appear on the balcony this year, a spokesperson for the couple confirmed to Insider that they will still celebrate the Jubilee in London. The Sussexes' visit marks the first time Queen Elizabeth will meet Harry and Markle's 11-month-old daughter, Lilibet Diana, who is named after her great-grandmother.

Prince Andrew and his daughters Beatrice, Eugenie, and their children will also be missing from this year's event.

Trooping the Colour began 260 years ago, according to the royal family website. The Queen hosted her first Trooping the Colour as Princess Elizabeth in 1951, as she stood in for her father King George VI, who was unwell at the time, according to Town and Country.