Prince Harry will attend his father King Charles III's coronation without his wife Meghan Markle, who will remain at the couple’s home in Southern California.
By Associated Press: Prince Harry will attend his father’s coronation, Buckingham Palace said Wednesday, ending months of speculation about whether the prince would be welcome after leveling charges of racism and media manipulation at the royal family.
His wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, will remain at the couple’s home in Southern California with their two young children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, the palace said. A nearly identical statement from the Sussex’s representatives confirmed the news.
The May 6 date of the coronation at Westminster Abbey coincides
with their son’s birthday.
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 and Meghan, who is biracial, have alleged
she faced racist attitudes from both the palace and the U.K. 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
Princess 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.
