Is Prince Harry at King Charles's Coronation?
Prince Harry Arrives at Westminster Abbey Without Meghan Markle For King Charles III's Coronation
Image Source: Getty / Phil Noble
King Charles III's Coronation has arrived, and after months of speculation, Prince Harry has made a return to the UK for the event — without his wife, Meghan Markle, by his side. Harry was seen entering Westminster Abbey on Saturday morning solo, walking alongside his cousins Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. He was seated in the third row for the 6 May formal ceremony.
Back on 12 April, Variety reported that the king's communications team issued a statement that read, "Buckingham Palace is pleased to confirm that The Duke of Sussex will attend the Coronation Service at Westminster Abbey on 6 May. The Duchess of Sussex will remain in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet." Additionally, a source told People that Harry would attend the event because he wants to support his father's important milestone. However, he's not expected to appear at other outings aside from the crowning ceremony.
News of Harry's attendance came a few weeks after a spokesperson for the Sussexes revealed to The Times on 4 March that Harry had "recently revealed email correspondence from His Majesty's office regarding the coronation." At that time, there was no word on whether or not Harry and Markle would accept the invitation.
Buckingham Palace announced the coronation on 11 Oct., 2022, confirming than that it would be conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury and that Queen Consort Camilla would also be crowned alongside her husband. "The Coronation will reflect the monarch's role today and look towards the future, while being rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry," the palace added.
The Coronation date is the same as Archie's fourth birthday.
The ongoing public rift between Harry and the royal family following the release of his memoir "Spare" led many to question whether he would attend his father's Coronation at all. This was further fuelled on 1 March after a spokesperson confirmed the couple had been evicted from their home in the UK, Frogmore Cottage.
When Harry was asked about the Coronation in his ITV interview with journalist Tom Bradby in January, he didn't confirm his attendance either. "There's a lot that can happen between now and then. But the door is always open. The ball is in their court," he said.
A source previously told People that Charles reportedly wanted the situation between his family to "calm down" in time for his Coronation. The insider adds: "It is such a momentous occasion for Charles, and he would want his son to be at the Coronation to witness it. He would like to have Harry back in the family. If they don't sort it out, it will always be part of the king's reign and how he has left his family disjointed. He has had a reputation as a distant parent, and it would be awful for him for that to continue."
In a live-streamed event by Harry's publisher, Penguin Random House, on 4 March, the Duke of Sussex told "toxic trauma" expert Dr. Gabor Maté how much therapy helped him and that he "did the thing of trying to encourage everyone [in his family] to do it." He explained that therapy had taught him a "new language and the people that I was surrounded by, they didn't speak that language."
