Prince Harry, Meghan invited to King Charles III’s coronation
Written by ABC AUDIO ALL RIGHTS RESERVED on March 6, 2023
(NEW YORK) — Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have received an invitation for the coronation of Harry’s father, King Charles III, their spokesperson has confirmed.
The confirmation of Harry and Meghan’s invitation answers a longstanding question of whether they would be invited to the king’s coronation after Harry’s explosive memoir, released in January, appeared to further the distance between him and his royal family members.
It still remains to be seen, however, whether the California-based Sussexes will travel to England to attend the coronation, scheduled to take place on May 6 at Westminster Abbey.
The day of the coronation is also the fourth birthday of Harry and Meghan’s son, Archie. The couple also has a 1-year-old daughter, Lilibet.
“I can confirm The Duke has recently received email correspondence from His Majesty’s office regarding the coronation,” a spokesperson for the Sussexes told ABC News on Sunday. “An immediate decision on whether The Duke and Duchess will attend will not be disclosed by us at this time.”
Buckingham Palace has not commented on Harry and Meghan’s invitation to the coronation.
A palace spokesperson confirmed to ABC News Monday that save-the-date emails and correspondence for the coronation have started rolling out, while formal invitations will not be sent until closer to the date.
The news of Harry and Meghan’s invitation comes less than one week since the Sussexes’ spokesperson confirmed that the couple had been asked “to vacate” Frogmore Cottage, their official residence in the United Kingdom since 2019.
Buckingham Palace has not commented on the Harry and Meghan being asked to move out of Frogmore Cottage, a royal residence located on the grounds of Windsor Castle.
Charles is said to have made the decision to move his son and daughter-in-law out of their home in January, shortly after Harry’s memoir Spare was released, according to ABC News contributor Omid Scobie.
According to Scobie and The Sun newspaper, Frogmore Cottage has instead been offered to Charles’ younger brother, Prince Andrew, who is no longer a working royal after facing scrutiny over his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Harry and Meghan are also no longer senior working royals after choosing to step down from their roles in 2020, becoming financially independent and moving to California.
The reported changes with Frogmore Cottage come less than six months after the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September, at which point Charles, her eldest son, became king.
The queen’s funeral in September was the last time Harry and Meghan appeared publicly with the royal family. The period of mourning for the queen also marked the first time in two years the couple was seen together publicly with Charles and Harry’s brother, Prince William, and other senior royals.
In his memoir, Harry described tensions within his family, particularly between himself and his father and brother.
Harry told Good Morning America co-anchor Michael Strahan in an interview prior to the memoir’s release that he did not believe the details he shared in Spare could make things any worse with his family.
“I have thought about it long and hard,” Harry said. “And as far as I see it, the divide couldn’t be greater before this book.”
Neither Kensington Palace — the office of William and Kate, the Princess of Wales — nor Buckingham Palace, the office of Charles and Camilla, the Queen Consort, have commented on the claims Harry made in Spare.
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