Here's the Reason Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Skipped Close Friend's Weekend Wedding
There’s nothing like a weekend trip with friends — just ask Prince Harry and Meghan Markle!
While Prince William‘s family (minus 5-month-old Prince Louis) spent Saturday at the wedding of one of Kate Middleton‘s closest friends, Sophie Carter, Meghan and Harry (who is also a longtime friend of Carter’s) jetted to Amsterdam to celebrate the launch of celebrity hangout Soho House’s newest location, according to the Evening Standard. The invite list for the getaway weekend, which reportedly included pampering treatments at the spa and a lobster spaghetti dinner, was full of other A-list guests like Eddie Redmayne, Stanley Tucci and Jenna Coleman.
In addition to doubling as a 55th birthday celebration for Soho House founder Nick Jones, the kickoff party included a tour of Amsterdam’s red-light district (which the Evening Standard notes was not attended by Meghan and Harry) as well as a boat ride through the Dutch city’s famous canals.
Kensington Palace declined to comment when reached by PEOPLE.
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English television and radio presenter Richard Bacon shared a number of videos from the event, including a shot of the club’s rooftop pool as well as videos from a lunchtime canal cruise and from inside Italian restaurant Cecconi’s.
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A post shared by Richard Bacon (@richardpbacon) on Sep 21, 2018 at 10:57pm PDT
A post shared by Richard Bacon (@richardpbacon) on Sep 22, 2018 at 4:47am PDT
Cecconi’s Amsterdam is rather pretty. (I’m assuming it’s normally busier than this).
A post shared by Richard Bacon (@richardpbacon) on Sep 23, 2018 at 9:36am PDT
Harry last visited the Netherlands on official business in July, kicking off a two-day visit to Amsterdam to attend the International AIDS Conference. The royal sat down with young advocates to discuss issues faced by teenagers who have the disease, where he spoke about the benefits of getting young people involved in policy changes and spreading information.
After the weekend fun, it was back to work on Monday for Meghan and Harry, who visited Loughborough University to meet with honorees from Coach Core, a program that trains young people to become coaches and encourages the next generation of athletes.
Harry, 34, and Meghan, 37, watched as British marathon runner Paula Radcliffe, tennis star Laura Robson and netball player Eboni Beckford-Chambers led 200 apprentices through a series of drills and mentoring. Meghan even took part in a passing drill — in heels! — which ended in a hug from Harry.
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