Meghan Markle – Prince Harry Wedding: No, Queen Elizabeth II Did Not ‘Ban’ The Obamas From Upcoming Nuptials

The guest list to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s royal wedding have intrigued several publications, which have led to some questionable reports.

Shortly after the red-headed prince and the former actress announced their royal engagement, the guest list to their wedding was on everyone’s mind. Barack Obama and Michelle Obama were one of the first names to pop up in several publications as potential guests to the royal wedding, based on a report by the Birmingham Mail.

The former U.S. president and his wife have built a good rapport with the British royal family throughout the years. The Obamas and Windsors’ relationship might even extend beyond a political one, especially for Prince Harry. In fact, based on a tweet by the strawberry-haired prince, Barack Obama was invited to Kensington Palace back in May—not as a foreign dignitary since he had left the Oval office by then. Plus, no one could forget the friendly competition Prince Harry and Michelle Obama had during the Invictus games in 2016, in which even Queen Elizabeth joined in on the fun.

According to Snopes, however, several online publications have reported that the Queen banned Barack Obama and the former first lady from attending Ms. Markle and her grandson’s wedding.

Prince Harry hosted former US President @BarackObama at Kensington Palace today. pic.twitter.com/9SWfSRY4FH

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) May 27, 2017

Gossip Cop identified Neon Nettle as one of the publications that wrote about the false news. Neon Nettle reported that former President Obama tried to get an invite to the upcoming royal wedding when he congratulated the couple on Twitter.

Meanwhile, Just News USA claimed that Michelle Obama tried to get an invite to the royal wedding as well by bashing President Trump during her appearance in Canada in an event hosted by the Economic Club of Toronto.

However, Snopes and Gossip Cop have debunked these allegations, citing that there is no proof to the reports. Upon closer inspection, the false reports make tenuous connections to corroborate the claim that the Obamas were banned from Meghan Markle’s wedding by the Queen herself.

It would seem that publications like Just News USA and Neon Nettle injected their interpretations of Obama’s congratulatory tweet and Mrs. Obama’s speech to support the claim that the former first couple of the United States was trying to get an invite to the royal wedding. They used this interpretation as a basis for their headline and alleged that the Queen disliked the Obamas’ behavior, providing no such proof of the regnant’s supposed reaction.

Michelle and I are delighted to congratulate Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on their engagement. We wish you a lifetime of joy and happiness together.

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) November 27, 2017

Upon closer inspection of Obama’s tweet, there are no signs that the former U.S. president was asking for an invite to Prince Harry’s wedding. The tweet read like any standard congratulatory message to an engaged couple and did not even mention the wedding, just the engagement.

Meanwhile, based on a report by Page Six, Mrs. Obama did not mention Trump during her speech, but she did advise the crowd to avoid tweeting in the morning while still in bed. The comment has led several publications, including Page Six and Just News USA, to believe that Michelle Obama was referring to Trump. However, it appears that the former FLOTUS never mentioned the current U.S. president during her speech.

According to quotes from Mrs. Obama’s speech, as per The Star, the former first lady meant something entirely different by the comment and was not trying to make a jab at Trump. Based on the quote, Michelle Obama was trying to advise the people in attendance to think about what they are tweeting because it is public. It would seem that the former first lady would want people to think about what message they are sending to others through social media.

“Here’s the thing people need to understand. We use social media by committee. So when we use social media, I usually think about what I want to say… Communication requires that kind of thought and connection.”

In the same speech, Mrs. Obama also talked about her first meeting with Queen Elizabeth II, which led to the allegation that Michelle Obama was trying to get an invite to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding. However, she did not seem to mention Ms. Markle and Prince Harry’s wedding at all during her speech.

Michelle Obama’s speech in Canada was about effective communication, noted Page Six. Her speech touched upon racism and equality as well, stated The Star. So Mrs. Obama may have been using her meeting with the Queen as an example of effective communication, especially since it touched upon personal contact as a very important form of nonverbal communication.

“What do you do with the queen? I touched her. She touched me first.”

To sum it all up, claims that Barack and Michelle Obama were banned from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding by the Queen are false. There is no substantiated proof to the reports. However, it must also be noted that the Obamas invitation to the royal wedding isn’t absolute either.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmXp5nrGSwQ