Only two British royal family members have ever attended the Met Gala

The 2024 Met Gala is officially here, with Monday evening seeing A-listers descend on New York City from far and wide, to attend this year's Costume Institute Benefit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

This year's Met Gala will be chaired by Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny and Chris Hemsworth. Not to mention, Met trustee and Vogue Editor-In-Chief Anna Wintour, who will be joined by two honorary chairs - Loewe creative director Jonathan Anderson and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew.

The annual event - undoubtedly the most iconic in the fashion calendar, is most known for its red carpet, with celebrity guests in their hundreds getting creative with the official dress code - announced each year.

The 2024 theme is “The Garden of Time”, inspired by the 1962 short story by J.G. Ballard. And judging by the famed work, we can expect a lot of gothic and dark florals on the red carpet.

"More modern, less delicate pieces imbued with the same spirit as the spotlit fashions," Vogue has written about the theme. "Think melancholic florals (as moody florals aren’t moody enough)."

But most importantly, which A-list faces will be taking to the red carpet in the first place?

There is a lot of speculation around a potential surprise appearance from Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, and fans are hoping that Ryan Gosling might make his Costume Institute Benefit debut. But some of the biggest talk surrounds Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, with hopes that royalty may grace the Met Gala.

Yes, social media sleuths have been predicting a Met Gala appearance from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, but on closer inspection it could be unlikely, with only two members of the British royal family having ever attended in its history.

The first Mountbatten-Windsor to attend the Met Gala was Princess Diana, who famously arrived at the 1996 Costume Institute Benefit in a navy lace-trimmed silk slip dress from John Galliano's debut couture collection for Dior.

Over 20 years later, Princess Beatrice became the second member of the British royal family to attend the Met Gala, making a surprise appearance in 2018 in an Alberta Ferretti gown.

Will the third royal Met Gala appearance take place this year? Only time will tell. 

We will continue to update this story.