Why Meghan, Duchess of Sussex 'won't meet President Trump' during state visit to UK

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Photo / Getty Images

US President Donald Trump will make his first full state visit to Britain in June, but Meghan, Duchess of Sussex will "skip meeting him during his stay".

According to Fabulous Digital, former royal editor Duncan Larcombe said Meghan would "conveniently" be on maternity leave during the trip on June 3 to 5.

The palace have not yet confirmed which royals will be in attendance, other than a spokesperson confirming that the Queen would welcome the Trumps.

Larcombe told the site: "I'm told that there are no plans for Meghan to meet President Trump. Not as a snub because — how shall we say — it's a quite convenient period of maternity leave so she won't be working."

This comes after Meghan publicly campaigned against Trump's presidency back in 2016 when she was still working on Suits.

Appearing on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, she called him "divisive" and "misogynistic" and said she was backing Hillary Clinton for the position, saying: "I'm voting for Hillary Clinton, not because she is a woman, but because Trump has made it easy to see that you don't really want that kind of world that he's painting."

The Duchess also previously made a joke about staying in Canada if Trump was elected.

That said, Larcombe suspects Meghan would've met with Trump if she didn't have this "convenient" option not to.

"These visits are not about the personality of the president or the opinions of the royals, it's about the special relationship. Politics has to stay out of it. Yes she said things in the past, but they are in the past before she ever knew she'd one day be a royal and sit in a banquet with President Trump. Little bit awkward."

Speaking on whether Prince Harry would attend without his wife, Larcombe said he "probably wouldn't be forced to go, but in a way it'll be odd if he doesn't."

"Harry has married an American. An American has become a member of the royal family — a duchess. So you'd sort of expect it. The amount of interest in Meghan and Harry in America is incredible.

"By her becoming the first American to marry into the family in the past 50 years, I think it can only be a good thing for the royal family."