King Charles’ coronation: Kate ‘prevented’ Meghan from attending, royal expert claims

One royal writer is speculating that Kate may have made the call on whether or not Meghan should attend the King's coronation. Photo / AP

The Princess of Wales reportedly “prevented” Meghan Markle from attending the King’s coronation next month, a prominent royal biographer has claimed.

In sensational remarks, former BBC journalist Tom Bower claimed Princess Kate, who has been publicly exposed by her US sister-in-law multiple times in recent years, insisted Meghan would not be welcome at the celebration “under any circumstances”.

After months of speculation, Buckingham Palace announced today that Prince Harry had accepted his invitation to the historical event in London on May 6, while his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, is to remain in California with their children, Prince Archie, 3, and Princess Lilibet, 1.

William, Kate, Harry and Meghan at Queen Elizabeth's funeral last year. Photo / AP

Speaking on GB News, Bower suggested the former actress was eager to travel to the UK alongside her husband, but that the princess blocked it.

“We must all be grateful that Kate, in the end I think, prevented Meghan from coming, and said she ‘wouldn’t have her there under any circumstances’,” Bower said. “And if she [Meghan] did come, she’d have to sit at the back.”

He added, “I do think that for the royal family, Harry’s presence is constitutionally important. If, God forbid, the Cambridges all died, we’d have King Harry on the throne after Charles, so he’s got to be there.”

While the palace didn’t give a reason for Meghan’s absence from festivities, the date of the coronation falls on Archie’s fourth birthday. It’s further understood Archie and Lilibet were deemed too young to be invited.

The Sussexes’ delay in making a decision had reportedly been causing problems for organisers, with seating plans yet to be finalised. The cut-off date for RSVPs was April 3.

Given Harry is no longer a working royal – after stepping back from duties in early 2020 and moving to the US – it’s likely going to be a fly-in-fly-out trip for the duke, who won’t partake in the ceremony in an official capacity.

Harry will also be absent from the Buckingham Palace balcony, where King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William, Princess Kate and their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis will cap off formalities by waving to the public.

The coronation will mark Harry’s first time being seen publicly in the presence of his family since he released his explosive tell all memoir, Spare, in January.

The book contained a number of private stories about the royals from Harry’s perspective, including his physical fight with Prince William. Harry also painted a rather unflattering picture of Camilla.

Harry jetted into London in late March where he attended a court hearing in his privacy case against Associated Newspapers Ltd.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice last month in London. Photo / Getty Images

During his testimony in that case, he accused his family of “withholding information” from him for “a long time” in an effort to prevent him from “opening a can of worms”.

It is not known if he managed to visit Charles during the brief trip, though reports have indicated they did not see each other.

Meghan joined Harry for the Queen’s funeral in September, where they reunited with Prince William and Princess Kate for a walkabout in Windsor.

Meghan and Kate were not seen conversing during the encounter, which was described as “frosty”.

It’s been well-reported for years that the royal wives are not close, with rumours of tension between them emerging in the months after Meghan and Harry’s May 2018 wedding.

In the Sussexes’ Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, which was released in December, Meghan suggested the pair got off on the wrong foot when they first met.

Meghan told producers she was surprised when she realised William and Kate’s “formality” continued away from cameras.

“[I’ve] always been a hugger. I didn’t realise that that is really jarring for a lot of Brits,” Meghan said of her first meeting with Kate. “I guess I’d start to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside, carried through on the inside.”

Earlier, Meghan addressed reports she had made Kate cry in the lead-up to the royal wedding, telling Oprah Winfrey in 2021 that it was actually Kate who made her cry.

“She [Kate] was upset about something, but she owned it, and she apologised. And she brought me flowers,” Meghan said at the time.

“A few days before the wedding, she was upset about something pertaining – yes, the issue was correct – about flower girl dresses, and it made me cry, and it really hurt my feelings.

“What was hard to get over was being blamed for something that not only I didn’t do, but that happened to me.

“And the people who were part of our wedding were going to our comms team and saying: ‘I know this didn’t happen. I don’t have to tell them what actually happened.’”