Oprah on if Harry and Meghan should attend coronation
It has been confirmed that Prince Harry will attend the Coronation of King Charles II and Queen Camilla but his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, will stay in California with their children. A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace announced the news on Wednesday. In the leading up to this confirmation, it was reported the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were locked in negotiations with Buckingham Palace over their attendance, with suspected topics ranging from their children’s roles to their seating arrangements. However, a royal commentator has since deemed previous reports “far fetched,” saying neither Harry nor Meghan would have made such requests.
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Russell Myers, Associate Editor at the Daily Mirror and co-host of the Pod Save The King podcast, discussed the King’s upcoming Coronation last week.
Speaking with co-host Ann Gripper, Mr Myers noted the reveal of the “balcony line-up” which listed the members of the Royal Family who will join the King and Queen Consort on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after the Coronation ceremony.
Charles has “chosen to celebrate the Coronation by appearing on the balcony with just the working royals,” the commentator said.
“This is going to be the start of the King Charles era and he has chosen his closest and most loyal family members, and the opportunity to show — on the first instance — this vision of a slimmed-down monarchy.”
The King and Queen Consort will be accompanied by the Prince and Princess of Wales and their three children, Princess Anne and her husband Sir Timothy Laurence, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the Duke of Kent, Princess Alexandra and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.
Mr Myers went on to say the announcement suggests Harry and Meghan “were never involved in these types of conversations,” given that the King confirmed who will join him for the iconic moment before receiving confirmation of the Sussexes’ attendance.
He said: “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and the Duke of York, were never part of those conversations and will not be appearing on the balcony.”
Referencing previous reports about Harry and Meghan’s so-called “demands”, Mr Myers said: “Whether the Duke and Duchess of Sussex did request to be in the balcony, I have been told that is a bit far-fetched.”
He added: “They would have had no such requests for them to be on the balcony…I don’t think they were part of those kinds of conversations at all. I don’t think they would have requested to be part of it.”
Mr Myers’ comments stand in contrast to previous claims, which suggested the Duke and Duchess had been set upon appearing on the balcony.
Speaking to Sky News Australia, royal biographer Angela Levin said: “They [Harry and Meghan] have made demands about standing on the balcony. On the one hand, they’ve said they want such an intimate family moment — believe that and you’ll believe anything — and on the other hand, they demand that they are on there with their children, and also that they want an apology first.”
Noting the Sussexes’ planned absence from the balcony, she added: “So none of that has worked. The authority and the kindness from them, nobody is interested in. So they won’t be there. I expect they are absolutely furious.”
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Harry and Meghan are understood to have not seen the senior members of the Royal Family since the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022.
The couple had been visiting the UK for a series of charity events when the late monarch’s health began to deteriorate.
What was meant to be a week-long trip was extended to over two weeks and the Sussexes carried out their first official engagement with the Royal Family in over two years.
While Ms Levin believes the Sussexes are likely to be “furious” about the balcony snub, Mr Myers indicated that the couple would more than likely “fade into the background”.
“I think they’ll follow the blueprint of what happened during the Platinum Jubilee and the Queen’s funeral,” he said before the news emerged that Harry would be travelling to the UK alone. “They turn up. They faded into the background. We didn’t really see much of them. We didn’t have much cause to discuss them because they didn’t do much.
“They did what they were asked, ie they turned up on the long walk with William and Kate and it was all smiles for those small periods of time that we saw them.”
Mr Myer’s comments came after the supposed deadline for RSVPs to the Coronation — April 3. It had been claimed the Sussexes’ failure to confirm their attendance was causing a headache for planners, but the commentator argued the couple were likely to have been given “more leeway”.
He explained: “I imagine they will be given a bit more leeway than the April 3 date that was set for the rest of the people invited.”
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