Absence doesn't always make the heart grow fonder - sometimes it just makes things calmer. In Meghan Markle's case, she reportedly did the royals a favor by not attending Prince Philip's funeral.

According to a new report, the royal family members were "quietly pleased" that Meghan Markle did not bother flying from the US to Britain to accompany her husband Prince Harry to attend Prince Philip's funeral service.

This allegation can be found on a chapter in the ex-royals' biography, "Finding Freedom, as the Independent reported it. According to the book, had Markle bothered, some of the royal members would have truly panicked. While not mentioned, it can be easily assumed that this includes Queen Elizabeth.

These members were reportedly already quite worried that her attendance might make the solemn event a "circus" and she would cause an unwanted "spectacle." It can be remembered that at the time, her and husband Prince Harry's bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview just happened.

She did not necessarily said the nicest things about the royals during the interview. If she were to go to the funeral, the media would have focused on how the royals were reacting to her interview and how Markle was composing herself in front of the people she lambasted, instead of the actual service.

The said Oprah Winfrey tell-all, where Meghan Markle revealed she has had suicidal thoughts while still being in the palace and personally witnessed racist attitudes toward her son baby Archie, aired a month prior to Philip's passing.

The Duke of Edinburgh died on April 9 at 99 years old and was laid to rest over a week later on April 17. Harry, 36, flew out for the ceremony. Him doing so also piqued the media interest, but not as much as it would if Meghan Markle went as well.

Moreover, probably to avoid any more gossip and hype, he immediately returned home to Markle. The official reason though provided by Markle, 40 for her non-attendance was because she was heavily pregnant at the time, which sounds logical.

It can be remembered that while Harry went, and survived the mini-reunion with his royal family after his quite damning Oprah tell-all alongside his wife he barely made it without anxiety. He said so that he went there with great worry.

"I was worried about it, I was afraid," Harry told The Associated Press during a recent joint interview with Oprah Winfrey to promote a mental-health series they co-created and co-executive produced for Apple TV+.