King Charles Is Thinking Like His Mother Now and Showing Prince Harry and Meghan ‘Tough Love,’ Royal Expert Claims
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, have been invited to King Charles III’s coronation but have yet to confirm their attendance.
The palace meanwhile has released some of the roles other family members will have in the historic ceremony. There have been several reports that the duke and duchess want a prominent role as well in exchange for their attendance but royal experts agree that’s not happening and believe the king is now thinking like his mother expressing “tough love” when it comes to the Sussexes.
‘No chance’ Prince Harry and Meghan Markle or their children end up on the balcony
After reports claimed that Harry and Meghan asked to be permitted on the balcony the day of Charles’ coronation, royal commentator Angela Mollard argued the king will deny their request as part of his efforts to keep the focus on a slimmed-down monarchy of only working family members.
“The latest thing they’ve said is they want to be on the balcony for the coronation while not giving a confirmation themselves that they’re going to be there,” Mollard said via Express. “This is weeks out, they need some planning around this, they need to know whether to set aside the chairs.”
She added: “There is no chance they’re going to be on the balcony — the queen wanted a slimmed-down monarchy. Charles is further enforcing that. He has dealt beautifully with Andrew and they need to turn around and say there’s no chance they’ll get a place on that balcony.”
Expert says King Charles is thinking like the queen and expressing ‘tough love’
Another royal watcher thinks that if King Charles completely excludes the Sussexes it would be a “mistake” that could look bad on him.
In a comment piece for News.com.au journalist Daniela Elser opined that leaving Harry, Meghan, and especially their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, out of the coronation plans would be a “huge mistake.” She wrote: “Reports have suggested that the selection of guests who will fill the Abbey’s pews will be a representative cross-section of a multicultural 21st century Britain. Leaving Archie and Lili out of the whole three-day event makes something of a mockery of all that enthusiastic drum-banging about just how smashing this inclusiveness business is. How can the King bring a politically, culturally, and socially fractured Britain together if he doesn’t even have it in him to bring all of his grandchildren together?”
However, royal expert Marlene Koenig believes that Charles is showing “tough love” when it comes to non-working royals. She told Express that the king’s mother, the late Queen Elizabeth, would have done the same thing and would have thought, “Ok, I love you but you are not going to be part of the job. You can’t have it both ways.”
Koenig also spoke about any backlash the king has faced after evicting Harry and Meghan from Frogmore Cottage saying: “It’s called tough love. There’s things you have to do. It’s something Charles had to do for the family. He [had to] cut this loose before the coronation and move on.”
Other royals excluded from coronation procession
King Charles is also continuing to do what his mother started with Prince Andrew and keeping him out of the royal spotlight. That decision has trickled down to his daughters as Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie will be kept in the background at the coronation ceremony.
The Mirror reported that neither princess nor their father will be part of the procession. The Palace has said that while the carriage procession following the king’s coronation will be smaller and shorter than the one after the queen’s coronation, it will still be “amazing in both scale and splendor.”
