Prince Harry will still be invited to Charles’ coronation—but may not attend

In four short months, King Charles will be crowned Britain's monarch in a ceremony full of pomp and splendor at Westminster Abbey, alongside his wife, the new Queen Consort Camilla. But the big question remains: After the bombshells delivered in Prince Harry's memoir "Spare," will Charles' youngest son, Prince Harry, be there -- and will he bring wife Meghan Markle and their children, Archie and Lilibet, to mark the big day? Page Six has previously reported that Harry and Markle will be absolutely invited to the coronation, and palace insiders said that still holds true.

But royal historian Hugo Vickers, a friend of the royal family, predicts that the prince won't accept. "Harry has made it clear that he has certain conditions before he will accept any invitation," Vickers told Page Six. "It is always possible to reconcile if both parties are willing to do so ... but I don't think the Harry side will budge. "He's never wrong about anything. so that's not a very good start."

Harry has said he wants an apology, which would likely be a condition of any pre-coronation family reconciliation.Getty Images

In fact, Vickers said, "I do hope Harry won't come, as it could deflect from the ceremony.

After all, that's why they don't invite crowned Kings and Queens to a coronation." In an in-depth interview with the UK Telegraph from his home in Montecito, Calif., published Friday, Harry, 38, stressed that he wants an apology from his family after making a series of explosive claims in his memoir, accusing his family of treating him as if he were "delusional and paranoid".

Prince Harry has been on the publicity trail to promote his memoir "Spare," including an appearance on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert."AP

Of his family's alleged bad behavior -- including, he claims, leaking negative stories to the press -- toward Markle, he said: "You know what you did, and I now know why you did it. And you've been caught out, so just come clean."

A royal source told The Sunday Times they do believe a reconciliation meeting will happen soon, adding it needs to take place before the coronation on May 6.  "It's going to take flexibility on all sides, but it can be done, it's fixable," said the source. "It needs Harry over here, in the room with the King and [Prince Williams], a couple of other family members, some of 'his people' he trusts who always had his back, so he doesn't think he's being ambushed. Someone like Elf [Ed Lane Fox, Harry's former private secretary] and Christopher [Lord Geidt, the late Queen's former private secretary who advised the Sussexes]."

The prince has said of his family's alleged poor behavior toward his wife, Meghan Markle: "You've been caught out, so just come clean."Getty Images forA 2022 Robert

Page Six revealed how Prince William and Princess Kate were left "reeling" by Harry's book, and a source who knows the Prince of Wales told The Times: "Not everyone here behaved well, but Harry's got to be able to sit down and say 'we didn't behave well either'.

That takes a lot of academic flexibility, which Harry isn't great at." Vickers told Page Six that the family absolutely needs to take guidance from the late Queen Elizabeth, saying, "The Queen was brilliant at conciliating all through her life, in dealing with Japan, Germany. She was diplomatic on an international level and a more personal level."

Prince William is said to be "reeling" from Prince Harry's bombshell memoirPOOL/AFP via Getty Images

There are clear parallels between Harry and the Duke of Windsor, who abdicated as king in December 1936 to marry American divorcee Wallace Simpson, later the Duchess of Windsor.

Vickers pointed out that there were also issues with the idea of the Duke of Windsor attending his niece Queen Elizabeth's coronation in June 1953. He was later photographed watching the event on TV from Paris, France.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were last in the UK for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth in September 2022Samir Hussein/WireImage

"The Duke of Windsor was not invited to the queen's coronation," said Vickers: "There were quite complicated negotiations agreed through his lawyers that he would put out a statement to say it was inappropriate for a previous king to attend a successor's coronation. "Before that, there had been fears that he would travel to London and [the family] were frightened of provoking him."

While Harry has given four TV interviews and two print interviews over the space of a week to publicize his book, the royal family, including his much-maligned older brother Prince William, and his father King Charles, have kept silent about the allegations in "Spare."

"I think the Royal Family has been very sensible in keeping quiet," said Vickers.