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Prince Harry has decided to attend the coronation of his father, King Charles III, but his wife Meghan Markle will remain in the United States with their children.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s long-awaited decision on whether or not to travel across the Atlantic for the historic event, to be held at Westminster Abbey on May 6, was revealed by Buckingham Palace on Wednesday afternoon, UK time.
“Buckingham Palace is pleased to confirm that the Duke of Sussex will attend the Coronation Service,” a palace spokesperson said.
“The Duchess of Sussex will remain in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.”
Harry and Meghan’s 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.
King Charles and his partner, the soon-to-be Queen Camilla, will arrive at Westminster Abbey via a procession in a horse-drawn carriage, with a group of about 15 working royals expected to trail behind them.
As Harry is no longer a working member of the family, that means he will not be part of the group. Neither will Prince Andrew.
This procession will follow a route about a quarter of the length travelled by Charles’ mother, Queen Elizabeth II, before her coronation in 1953.
Harry will also be absent from the Buckingham Palace balcony when his father, Camilla, Prince William, Princess Kate and their children appear, having returned to the palace after the coronation service, conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Meghan has decided to remain with their children in the US. Photo / Getty Images
An awkward reunion
While the announcement should silence the “will he or won’t he” debate in the British media, it won’t end the royal soap opera swirling around Harry and Meghan as King Charles III prepares for his coronation.
When the prince attended the funerals of his grandfather, Prince Philip, and his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, commentators discussed everything from whether Harry would be allowed to wear his military uniform to exactly where he was seated. And there is always the question of whether he will meet face-to-face with his father and older brother, Prince William.
That intrigue will only be heightened after Harry and Meghan stoked their critique of the royal family in a six-part Netflix series about their decision to step back from royal duties three years ago, which was followed by Harry’s decision to reveal family secrets in his bestselling memoir “Spare.”
Harry was last in London in March, attending a court hearing in his privacy case against Associated Newspapers Ltd. 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.”
“Following the death of my mother in 1997 when I was 12 years old and her treatment at the hands of the press, I have always had an uneasy relationship with the press,” Harry said.
“However, as a member of the Institution, the policy was to ‘never complain, never explain.’
“There was no alternative; I was conditioned to accept it. For the most part, I accepted the interest in my performing my public functions.”
However, he said it became increasingly difficult after he started dating Meghan Markle, and he was “increasingly troubled by the approach of not taking action against the press in the wake of vicious persistent attacks on, harassment of and intrusive, sometimes racist articles concerning Meghan.
“The situation got worse”, he claimed, after Meghan fell pregnant and around the birth of their first child, Prince Archie, in May 2019.
In his statement to the court, Harry also said that he only became aware in 2018 that he had a potential claim against News Group Newspapers over alleged phone hacking.
“The Institution was without a doubt withholding information from me for a long time about NGN’s phone hacking and that has only become clear in recent years as I have pursued my own claim with different legal advice and representation,” he said.
“It is not an exaggeration to say that the bubble burst in terms of what I knew in 2020 when I moved out of the United Kingdom.”
Harry is not believed to have met with Charles or William during that trip in March.
‘Complete chaos’ behind the scenes
Meanwhile, concerning new details about the latest plans for the coronation have painted a picture of “complete chaos” behind the scenes.
According to British newspaper The Mirror, with just over three weeks to go, organisers are now in a “race against time”, with major issues cropping up and wreaking havoc on the structure of the event.
While the ceremony has been stripped back from a more than three-hour event to one which is supposed to run for a significantly shorter 90 minutes, the one rehearshal to have taken place so far “overran significantly”. There are fears that viewers will switch off.
“It’s all very frantic, complete chaos to be frank,” an insider told the publication.
“There is a plan, which is supposed to be the blueprint of how the day should operate, but things are changing daily which is causing massive headaches.”
However, another royal source eased concerns somewhat, telling The Mirror that while it will “go down to the wire”, there is “huge confidence” everything will go to plan on the day.
They added: “This is naturally a huge event and the important point is everyone is pulling in the right direction.
“The King and Queen Consort want it to be perfect, as does everyone involved, which is why everything is being done to make it so.”
The prince has accused Camilla of leaking private conversations to the media as she sought to rehabilitate her image after marrying Charles. Photo / AP
Family rifts
Harry and Meghan, who is biracial, have alleged she faced racist attitudes from both the palace and the UK press. The treatment contributed to their decision to leave the country.
The revelations in “Spare,″ including details of private conversations with his father and brother, Prince William, fanned tensions between Harry and his family that became public when he and his wife moved to North America in 2020.
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.
The prince singled out Camilla, the queen consort, accusing her of leaking private conversations to the media as she sought to rehabilitate her image after marrying Charles. Camilla was once reviled for her long-term affair with Charles, which contributed to the breakdown of his marriage to the late Prince Diana, Harry and William’s mother.
The acrimony between Harry and his family once again spilled into public view last month when the Sussexes said that they had been asked to vacate their home in Britain.
Frogmore Cottage, a royal residence on the grounds of Windsor Castle west of London, was the couple’s main residence before they gave up royal duties and moved to Montecito, a wealthy enclave in Southern California. - additional reporting from Associated Press.
