Flying solo. Prince Harry returned to the UK for the coronation of his father, King Charles III, however he did so with out spouse Meghan Markle.
The Duke of Sussex, 38, arrived at Westminster Abbey on Saturday, Might 6, alongside his cousins Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice and their respective husbands, Jack Brooksbank and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. When the group walked up the aisle to their seats, a smiling Harry walked alone behind Eugenie, 33, and Brooksbank, 37.
Contained in the church, Harry sat within the third row behind Charles’ siblings Princess Anne and Prince Edward, each of whom had been in ceremonial gown. Harry, in the meantime, notably wore a morning go well with fairly than his navy uniform.
As a result of the duke was stripped of his honorary navy titles when he stepped down as a senior working royal in 2020, he isn’t permitted to put on his uniform for formal events. He was granted an exception in September 2022 for the ultimate vigil of his late grandmother Queen Elizabeth II.
Harry doesn’t have an official function within the coronation, so he is not going to be a part of the procession from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace after the service is over.
Buckingham Palace confirmed in April that the Duke of Sussex would attend the occasion after months of hypothesis about whether or not he would even be invited. The Duchess of Sussex, 41, was invited as effectively, however the palace famous that she would stay in California with the couple’s youngsters: son Archie, 4, and daughter Lilibet, 23 months.
An insider advised Us Weekly on the time that the previous actress determined to remain house partly as a result of the coronation was the identical day as Archie’s 4th birthday. “As a lot as Meghan appreciates the invite to the coronation, she wouldn’t miss her son’s birthday for the world,” the supply defined. “Regardless of being the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan is a mother first.”
It’s not but identified how the Fits alum celebrated her son’s massive day, however the supply famous that Meghan was nonetheless blissful her husband might symbolize them on the ceremony. “She feels very grateful to be included in such a special day by the royal household and is glad that Harry can go and present help on behalf of their household,” the insider advised Us. “However being the identical day as Archie’s birthday, sadly, she’s simply going to should miss out on this one.”
Prince Harry WPA Pool/Shutterstock
Regardless of the drama, the Sussexes had been included in an image featured within the king’s official coronation memento program. The snap was taken by photographer Chris Jackson in 2018 because the royal household celebrated Charles’ seventieth birthday at Clarence Gardens. “Good to see this image I took in 2018 within the Official Coronation Programme,” Jackson wrote by way of Instagram in April.
The photograph exhibits Princess Kate holding then-infant son Prince Louis, now 5, whereas standing subsequent to husband Prince William and her in-laws Harry and Meghan, 41. Seated on a bench in entrance of the {couples} are Kate and William’s two eldest youngsters, Prince George, 9, and Princess Charlotte, 8, Queen Camilla and Charles, 74. The image was taken six months after Harry and Meghan tied the knot and multiple 12 months earlier than they stepped again from their roles as senior royals in early 2020.
Harry beforehand indicated that he wasn’t certain whether or not he would attend the coronation after the January launch of his memoir, Spare, and the Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, which premiered in December 2022. “There’s rather a lot that may occur between from time to time,” the previous helicopter pilot stated throughout a January interview with ITV. “However, you realize, the door is at all times open. The ball is of their court docket. There’s rather a lot to be mentioned and I actually hope that they’re prepared to sit down down and discuss it.”
Final month, royal skilled Tessa Dunlop completely advised Us that the coronation might probably be “a little bit of a nightmare” for the Invictus Video games founder. The Elizabeth & Philip: A Story of Younger Love, Marriage and Monarchy writer primarily based her prediction partly on the way in which Harry regarded whereas attending his grandmother’s funeral in September 2022.
“I used to be watching the physique language when he got here out of St George’s Chapel when the queen had lastly been laid to relaxation on the final day of the funeral itself,” Dunlop defined in April. “He was serving to Meghan into the automobile and he simply wasn’t a person who was snug in his pores and skin. And this time he’s coming over with out the help of Meghan.”
