Meghan Markle rejected Bafta invite in 2015 because of the ‘pomp and circumstance’ around it

MEGHAN Markle was invited to the Baftas a few years ago but reportedly refused to attend.

The Duchess of Sussex refused to walk the red carpet in 2015 after going on a trip to a refugee camp in Rwanda, as her “gut told her not to”.

Reuters

Meghan Markle revealed she was invited to the Baftas in 2015 but didn’t go as her ‘gut told her not to’[/caption]

Meghan’s trip was for her role as an advocate for UN Women, and she spoke of the experience on her now-defunct blog The Tig.

She wrote how she had been invited to the ceremony, but said: “My gut said, ‘No.’

“While my two worlds can coexist, I’ve learned that for me, being able to keep a foot in both is a delicate balance – because while they are not mutually exclusive, guiding my heart through the swinging pendulum from excess to lack of access is sometimes challenging.

“My brain, heart, spirit couldn’t shift gears that quickly – from the purpose-driven work I had been doing all week in Rwanda, to the glitz and glamour of an award show – plus the pomp and circumstance that comes with it.

Getty - Contributor

The then-Suits actress revealed she did ‘romanticise’ the popular awards ceremony[/caption]

PA:Press Association

She wrote how she had been on a trip to Rwanda and felt she couldn’t go straight to a glitzy awards show[/caption]

PA:Press Association

Meghan’s trip was for her role as an advocate for UN Women[/caption]

“’No,’ my heart said.

“And it wasn’t a soft whisper to myself; it was a lion’s roar.”

Although she declined the invitation, the then-Suits actress revealed she did love and “romanticise” the popular awards ceremony.

Meghan explained: “I had never been and had always romanticised the idea of it.

“A high-end jewellery company was going to fly me in, get me dolled up in the fanciest of gowns and I would travel straight from Kigali to Heathrow, to the makeup chair, and immediately onto the red carpet.”

After being made president of Bafta in 2010, Prince William usually attends every year, and he made an appearance with Kate Middleton at the February ceremony earlier in 2019.

Meghan did make a surprise appearance at the British Fashion Awards in December 2011, where she presented an award to her wedding dress designer, Clare Waight Keller.

Yesterday, Meghan Markle shared an adorable photo of baby Archie on her first Mother’s Day and paid tribute to Princess Diana.

Meghan spent the day with her own mum, who has been staying with the couple since April.

And we exclusively revealed how Meghan and Harry named Archie after army hero and the Duke’s mentor who got him deployed in Afghanistan.