Will Prince Harry Go to King Charles's Coronation?
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Photo: WPA Pool/Getty Images
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have finally returned an answer on the question of King Charles's coronation: One of them will be there.
"Buckingham Palace is pleased to confirm that the Duke of Sussex will attend the coronation service at Westminster Abbey on May 6," a palace spokesperson told "Page Six." So Harry will attend, while Meghan "will remain in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet."
According to various tabloid reports, Harry and his family have been going back and forth on this for months, tension on both sides having ratcheted way up after Harry's memoir, Spare, published in January. He cast many of his relatives in a keenly unflattering light and at the same time said he hoped to repair those relationships. While Harry told an interviewer that "the ball is in their court" regarding invitations, it actually appeared to be in his: By March, the Sussexes confirmed that the palace had been in touch about the ceremony.
Still, the reply-by date printed on some invitations (April 3) came and went, and the couple -- per a separate "Page Six" article -- still hadn't decided. "Harry has a lot of questions about how the event will work," a source told the paper, adding that he and Meghan understood it was a "damned if they do, damned if they don't" situation.
Here's what we know.
True to form, the royals have not spoken about the book. Publicly, they have been carrying out their duties as if nothing happened; privately, some of them are said to be seething. Prince William -- painted by Spare as a jealous hothead who once threw Harry on a dog bowl, allegedly encouraged him to wear a Nazi uniform, and was potentially unsupportive of his relationship with Meghan Markle despite being a massive Suits-head -- is purportedly "devastated" and "incredibly angry at the level of detail." He has reportedly "come to terms with the fact that he's lost his little brother quite possibly for life." Even in March, the sources were saying that he felt "very strongly" about Harry not attending the coronation.
Other sources have claimed that Charles, whom Harry portrays in a mostly sympathetic fashion, was "outraged" over his son's descriptions of Camilla as a "dangerous" and opportunistic media tactician. Still, another anonymous informant says he has "no appetite at this moment in time to engage," and so far the strategy seems to be to do nothing and let it pass.
Given Harry's accusations of story-planting by senior royals, going on the offensive via palace spokespeople would only have proved his point. And while he would likely caution readers against accepting information from anonymous "insiders" as necessarily true, it feels fair to assume that many of the people Harry has written about are not happy with how they come off.
Maybe yes, maybe no: Despite some tabloid chatter about Harry and Meghan potentially losing their duke and duchess titles as punishment for the perceived breach of loyalty, that sort of retributive measure was not taken.
That makes some sense: Being publicly vindictive would only validate Harry's narrative and invite yet another critical media cycle -- probably not what the new king wants as he ascends his throne. Some sources are also saying that, for Charles, inviting the Sussexes isn't solely about salvaging royal reputations. "It is his son, after all, and the king really does want a reconciliation in the long term," Vanity Fair's royal correspondent, Katie Nicholl, told Entertainment Tonight. "I think he wants to be magnanimous. I think he wants to take a leaf out of the queen's book.
I think he ultimately wants to heal the rift and wants his son at his coronation."
Unlikely to help in that regard is Charles's decision to revoke Harry and Meghan's lease on Frogmore Cottage (formerly their U.K. residence) and -- according to recent reports -- give it to Prince Andrew, of all people. Charles is said to have handed the couple their eviction notice shortly after Spare's publication, lending undertones of revenge to the real-estate shuffle. For the Sussexes, it "feels very final and like a cruel punishment," someone in their camp told the couple's biographer, Omid Scobie. "It's like [the family] wants to cut them out of the picture for good."
During his Spare press tour, the prince repeatedly stated that he wants his family back, but also said that "they have shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile." Harry believes his family members should be the ones to bend: "You could argue that some of the stuff I've put in there, well, they will never forgive me anyway," he recently told The Telegraph. "But the way I see it is, I'm willing to forgive you for everything you've done, and I wish you'd actually sat down with me, properly, and instead of saying I'm delusional and paranoid, actually sit down and have a proper conversation about this, because what I'd really like is some accountability. And an apology to my wife."
Per Us Weekly's sources, he hasn't gotten it. "No apology to Meghan has been made by the Palace, which frustrates Harry," this person told the magazine nearly a month after Spare's publication. "Nor has he received a personal apology." A second unnamed person added, "At this point, the royals can only move forward and come to some form of truce with Harry if everyone sits down and talks through their issues privately."
At the same time, the Duke hasn't yet acknowledged that some in his family might see Spare's disclosures as hurtful or even as a flat-out betrayal. "I'm not sure how honesty is burning bridges," Harry told Tom Bradby when the interviewer pointed out that the book could complicate reconciliation. "You know, silence only allows the abuser to abuse.
Right? So I don't know how staying silent is ever gonna make things better."
Some might argue that there is a difference between staying silent -- which Harry was not doing before Spare's publication (see also his six-part Netflix docuseries and his Oprah interview special) -- and cataloguing decades of grievances, both legitimate and petty, in microscopic detail. If Harry does genuinely want to rebuild his relationships with his father and brother, he might consider some accountability, too.
In certain respects, it sounds like he has been trying to make inroads.
On March 3, for example, when he and Meghan christened their 1-year-old daughter, Princess Lilibet Diana -- yes, they did style her as a princess, and yes, they are technically entitled to do -- in California, none of the senior royals showed up. Charles, Camilla, William, and Kate were reportedly invited but did not attend. Tyler Perry was there, though.
Of course he was.
More recently, during Harry's impromptu visit to London in late March (he showed up for a hearing in his lawsuit against Associated Newspapers Limited), the Duke reportedly tried to see his dad. That didn't happen because, according to the Telegraph, the king communicated that he was "busy" -- no further details provided.
Presently unclear, though Harry relinquished his public duties when he stepped back as a senior royal, so it wouldn't be surprising not to see him on the Buckingham Palace balcony after the ceremony. That was procedure at the queen's Platinum Jubilee, too: Only working royals got to stand on the balcony with her at the Trooping of the Colour.
And Charles -- who has previously expressed a desire not only to slim down the ranks of the senior royals but also to streamline the coronation itself -- may skip the bit where he makes all the dukes kneel to him in the ceremony, Vanity Fair's Nicholl told ET. That would potentially absolve both him and Harry of one uncomfortable moment.
A Daily Mirror report has dangled the possibility, saying that the BBC -- as part of its coronation coverage -- wants to run a sit-down interview with the king, in which he would doubtless be asked about Meghan and Harry. The Mirror also said Jonathan Dimbleby, who conducted the 1994 interview in which Charles publicly admitted to cheating on Princess Diana, might do this one, too.
But that special didn't go well for Charles, and while it makes sense that the BBC (or any media outlet) would be eager to air an exclusive with the monarch, it's hard to envision him issuing a response to Harry via a TV profile. "A lack of candor is the royal way; candor is seen dolorously, even if the only truly discreet royal -- Queen Elizabeth -- is now dead," the Daily Beast points out. "She never divulged anything" and generally met even the biggest family crises with outward-facing silence.
Charles has historically been a more outspoken figure than his mother, but a king sitting down for a prime-time tell-all to retaliate against his son? I'm skeptical! That just doesn't seem like something a reigning monarch would do.
As the Mirror itself notes, "Even one small comment on Harry and Meghan would make worldwide news. It could also prompt a response from Harry, which would be unpredictable, like so much. Everything is very delicate."
Given that Charles has reportedly set the coronation as the deadline for Harry and Meghan to move their belongings out of Frogmore, it's possible he will have some packing to do.
According to the Daily Mail, Prince William has worried that Harry "could steal the limelight by, for example, going on a walkabout in a deprived London borough," so ... maybe he'll do that!
Otherwise, Harry may consult the official coronation website for an overview of the agenda -- May 6: Big Day; May 7: "a spectacular Coronation Concert" at Windsor Castle at which apparently no one wants to play, plus light shows and drone displays across the country; May 6-8: Big Lunches; May 8: Big Help Out and a bank holiday, which Brits are encouraged to spend volunteering -- as well as a small menu of coronation appetizers (literal and figurative). The preparation toolkit includes three coronation recipes for things like Coronation Roast and Coronation Aubergine, as well as a Spotify playlist that is truly all over the gaff. Ed Sheeran, Grace Jones, Queen, Michael Buble ... did the king make this himself?
Is it a preview of chaos to come?
Stay tuned to find out.
This article has been updated.
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