King Charles Is in a No-Win Situation With Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Leading up to His Coronation
At the time of Queen Elizabeth II’s death, her oldest son immediately became the new monarch. However, King Charles III‘s official crowning will not take place until his coronation ceremony in May. Plans for the major royal event have been underway for months but one of the sticky points for the royal family is whether or not to invite Prince Harry and Meghan Markle following the Sussexes’ Netflix docuseries and the duke’s bombshell memoir.
When asked if he would attend, assuming he gets an invitation, Harry did not commit and said his family needs to sit down and speak to him about all that has happened first. It’s also been reported that the duke wants a public apology from the Firm to him and his wife.
Since there has been no such apology and differing reports about whether any productive talks have taken place, it’s still a guessing game as to if we’ll see the duke and duchess at the coronation ceremony. But the majority of people believe they will attend if asked as they won’t want to miss an event of this magnitude which will garner a global audience. But King Charles is really in a no-win situation when it comes to whether or not to invite his estranged son and daughter-in-law.
Problem with not inviting Prince Harry and Meghan
The king’s coronation will take place on May 6 at Westminster Abbey and will include around 2,000 guests. But will his youngest son be one of those attendees? How about Meghan?
Different polls have yielded different results about whether the Sussexes should get an invite. A recent Ipsos poll found that 60% of Brits believe Prince Harry should be at his father’s coronation. However, the poll did not ask the 1,001 respondents if Meghan should attend as well. A follow-up Twitter poll asking if both the duke and former Suits star should be invited found that an overwhelming 90.1% of the 3,902 respondents voted that neither of them should be.
No matter what the public thinks though, the king will have to make the final decision of what to do and if he doesn’t invite them it could look very bad on him and the entire British royal family.
It’s almost certain that Meghan and Harry would leak the snub to the media, which would create backlash from Sussex supporters. It would also fall right into the pair’s narrative that the royals have and continue to mistreat them.
Problem with inviting the Sussexes
But inviting them could cause an issue as well.
Just having Harry and Meghan at the event whether they receive prominent seating or not, could create a distraction and an all-out media circus around the religious ceremony. Express noted that they could turn it into a “Kardashian-style ridiculous affair.” And the Sussexes’ mere presence may very well overshadow the event which the king would not be happy about.
Also, Prince William is one of the family members who was attacked in his brother’s book, Spare, and several royal insiders have said that the new-Prince of Wales is furious over Harry’s allegations. It’s believed that William doesn’t want the duke or duchess at the coronation under any circumstances. Therefore, if Charles does invite them it could cause a rift with his oldest son who is supposed to have a role in the ceremony.
Moreover, there may actually be booing at this coronation. As The Telegraph noted, a number of netizens and even some members of the press have declared they will boo the Sussexes outside the church. That is something the couple already endured outside St. Paul’s Cathedral during the queen’s Platinum Jubilee and no one wants a repeat of that.
