By Sheila Mckenzie-
Prince Harry has ended months of speculation as to whether he will attend the King’s Coronation service in London next month , confirming he will attend without his wife, Meghan Markle, who will remain in California with their children Archie and Lilibet, it has been revealed.
Buckingham Palace confirmed the dramatic news in a statement today, saying it was ‘pleased to confirm’ the Duke of Sussex will be at Westminster Abbey on May 6.
His wife, Meghan Markle, will stay home at the couple’s residence in Montecito with one-year-old Lilibet and Archie, whose fourth birthday was born on the same day as the ceremony.
Harry will not take part in the Coronation procession afterwards, nor join senior royals on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, it is believed.
The fact the duke will not join senior royals in the balcony has been said multiple times in the various press publications, making it difficult to tell whether the revelation was being made to reveal facts and inform the pubic, or if it was being done to spite Harry and Meghan, both of whom have become divisive figures in the Uk.
The couple’s friend Omid Scobie confirmed Archie’s birthday ‘played a factor in the couple’s decision’ , adding that he expected it would be a ‘fairly quick trip to the UK’ for Harry. The Duke will only attend the ceremony itself, expected to last a few hours”.
ITV News royal editor Chris Ship said: ‘Given everything that been said/alleged – in six Netflix episodes and one book – this is a big development.
‘But Harry coming alone does mean less pressure on the Royal Family – and fewer of those awkward photographs together.’
The announcement comes just over three weeks until the big event, enabling plans for the royal family to complete seating arrangements. The news that his wife Meghan Markle will not be attending is believed to be pleasing information to Prince William’s wife, Kate Middleton, who reportedly found her last meeting with the duchess of sussex for the Queen’s funeral very uncomfortable.
Harry and Meghan had controversially delayed their decision over whether they would attend the ceremony, leaving the door open to continuous speculation and criticism about their conspicuous silence, despite the RSVP date of April 3 having passed.
They are believed not to have made up their minds up until now, although Scobie’s comments than Meghan was unlikely to attend due to the coincidence of the date with the birthday of her first son Archie Lilibeth stands out as very plausible reason for her absence.
The birthday coincidence is already seen by many as a convenient excuse. Some think the real reason for her absence may be the fact that their children Lilibet and Archie were not invited to the big day, after the sussexes children were considered too young to attend the ceremony.
The Royal Family have gone out of their way to make their love for Prince Harry’s children clear, after officially updated Archie and Lilibet’s titles in a major boost to Meghan and Harry recently after Buckingham Palace confirmed that the children would be able to use the titles of prince and princess.
Prince Harry is fifth in line to the throne whilst his children are sixth and seventh in the line of succession.
King Charles is expected to be pleased that both his sons will be represented at his Coronation, not that it will make it any easier for the two feuding brothers.
Harry is unlikely to have a role in the ceremony or appear on the balcony, but may appear in the procession after the ceremony. However, it would have been impossible for the Sussexes to not be represented at this unique event and expect to be taken seriously as members of the Royal Family in the future.
Harry, whose scathing criticism about the royal family has led to much controversy in the Uk, has expressed his hopes for reconciliation with his family clear. His critics consider such hopes unrealistic, given the seriousness of many of his attacks, but his supporters say he was right to be able to make his heart known to the world.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said in a statement issued at 3pm today: ‘Buckingham Palace is pleased to confirm that The Duke of Sussex will attend the Coronation Service at Westminster Abbey on 6th May. The Duchess of Sussex will remain in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.’
Archewell, Harry and Meghan’s charitable foundation, then issued a similar statement to the Press Association news agency confirming the Duke will attend.
A spokesman said: ‘The Duke of Sussex will attend the coronation service at Westminster Abbey on May 6th. The Duchess of Sussex will remain in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.’
Charles will be crowned in a ceremony full of pomp, pageantry and traditions that date back 1,000 years, following the 70-year reign of his mother Queen Elizabeth II who died last September.
Rift
Harry’s attendance follows the big despite the rift within the Royal Family sparked by a series of damning revelations by the Duke, first in a global interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, then subsequently in his docuseries with Netflix, topped up with the many intimate revelations of family secrets in his bestselling book, Spare
The revelations, including details of private conversations with his father , an alleged attack by his brother, Prince William, made any possible road to reconciliation almost as good as impossible.
The duke was clearly hurt by the series of attacks against him and his wife by the British media, and his complaint that his father declined to intervene in stopping what he considered to be the excesses of the press in publishing alleged false stories about his wife.
His wife complained during her interview with Oprah Winfrey to have felt suicidal, adding that her efforts to seek help from senior members of the royal family were ignored.
Analysis from experts in this publication have concluded his desires for intervention from his family to have been tricky, especially of they believed stories published to have been true, and in particular with the royal custom of enduring and not interfering with press freedom.
Some neutral analysts within The Eye Of Media have even questioned why Prince Harry himself did not take responsibility for confronting the press himself with those stories he believed to be untrue.
And there have bee questions as to why he did not call an internal emergency meeting with his family before going public. Most are united in the view that some of the media criticisms against him and his wife were too constant, almost on a daily basis, which in itself would inevitably be harmful to his mental health .
However, there remains unanswered questions in relation to what appears to be lies told by his wife on a number of issues, like Meghan Markle’s claim never to have researched the royal family before she met Prince Harry, and why she has not addressed queries in relation to those allegations of lies, also presented to her representatives by this publication.
The book also included allegations that members of the royal family regularly feed the press unflattering information about other members of the House of Windsor in exchange for positive coverage of themselves.
BBC royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell said today: ‘So Harry is coming to the coronation but Meghan is not. It means that the Palace planners can complete the seating plan. They are overdue in delivering their answer.’
He pointed out that Harry had not seen his father Charles or his brother William since the Queen’s state funeral last September, adding: ‘An awful lot of course has happened since then, not least the publication of his book and the bad feeling that has undoubtedly caused within the Royal Family towards him.
‘A strong sense of betrayal within the family towards Harry. But at this moment, a moment perhaps of some reconciliation, he will be there to see his father crowned.’
Harry’s attendance will see him appear in a public setting with Charles, Camilla, his brother the Prince of Wales, sister in law the Princess of Wales and the rest of his family for the first time since he lambasted the royals in his memoirs.
It will also be the first time he has been pictured with the Windsors since the funeral of his grandmother the late Queen.
Harry criticised hiss father, Charles’s parenting, said the King was jealous of Meghan and Kate, and accused William of physically attacking him in his tell-all book which has attracted global interest
He also said he and his brother, Prince William had begged his father not to marry Camilla, and branded Camilla ‘dangerous’ accusing her of sacrificing him on her own ‘personal PR altar’.
He admitted taking cocaine in the past and revealed he had killed soldiers during the Afghanistan war.
The duke went on to allege it was William and Kate who encouraged him to notoriously dress up as a Nazi at a fancy dress party.
Harry’s inflammatory claims were seen as damaging his fragile relationship with his brother, a future king, beyond repair, and further troubling his dealings with the King and the rest of the family.
In the three years since the Sussexes stepped down as senior working royals, the couple have been critical of the monarchy, telling their story in their Netflix documentary and in a televised interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Harry and Meghan were asked earlier this year to vacate their UK home Frogmore Cottage, in a move sanctioned by the King.
Charles will be the 40th monarch to be crowned in the Abbey and at 74 at the time of the ceremony, the oldest to ever be crowned.
The service is expected to be watched by hundreds of millions across the globe in what will be a masterclass in pomp and pageantry, despite the King’s decision to ‘slim down’ the occasion.
The service itself will start at 11am and be ‘solemn and religious’ while also offering ‘celebration and pageantry’, according to the Royal Family website.
It will be conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and ‘will reflect the monarch’s role today and look towards the future, while being rooted in longstanding traditions.’
Among those will be the role of the Page of Honour, carried out by Prince George and seven other boys.
Harry will not take part in the Coronation procession afterwards nor join senior royals on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, it is believed.