No More Special Treatment: Prince Harry and Meghan Will Be Treated Like Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie in the Future, Royal Expert Declares
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down from their royal duties in 2020 and moved to California. Since leaving the U.K., their relationship with Harry’s family has become strained given the attacks on the Firm in high-profile interviews, the Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, and the duke’s tell-all memoir Spare.
Today, the pair are considered non-working royals. And if they return to the U.K. for King Charles’ coronation that could be on full display for all to see as the Sussexes will be treated like other minor royals Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, a royal author says.
Will the Sussexes attend King Charles’ coronation?
No one knows for sure yet if the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be invited to the king’s coronation and if they would attend.
When the prince was asked during his ITV interview with Tom Bradby if invited would he go, Harry did not give a definitive yes or no but left the possibility open.
“There’s a lot that can happen between now and then,” he said. “The door is always open. The ball is in their court. There’s a lot to be discussed and I really hope that they are willing to sit down and talk about it because there’s a lot that’s happened in six years. And prior to that as well.”
Author says Harry and Meghan will be treated like Beatrice and Eugenie in U.K
Royal correspondent and author Katie Nicholl has put out a warning to Harry and Meghan that if they do attend the affair they will receive the same treatment as lower-level royals like Beatrice and Eugenie.
“Now that they are no longer working royals, the Sussexes can expect to be treated the same way as Harry’s cousins Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, who attend important family occasions but are not in the spotlight and do not appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony,” Nicholl wrote for Vanity Fair.
The royal expert added: “It has already been agreed that only working royals will make a balcony appearance during the coronation and sources have said that the focus will be on King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William, and Princess Kate.”
During the platinum jubilee, we saw what the future could look like for the Sussexes
At the service of thanksgiving for Queen Elizabeth II during the late monarch’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June 2022. The duke and duchess were taken to their seats in the middle of the second row.
According to royal biographer Tom Bower, Harry wasn’t thrilled with the seats and ultimately decided that he and his wife should at least sit closest to the aisle and asked Beatrice to move down. The usher, however, told Harry that would not be possible, and when the prince demanded to know who gave that order the usher responded: “Your grandmother.”
There have been several recent reports that the king enlisted Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury to try and come up with a solution to get Harry and Meghan to attend the coronation which could include assurance that they will be seated in high-profile positions.
