Buckingham Palace announced Wednesday that Prince Harry will attend his father’s coronation, putting an end to months of debate over whether the prince would be welcomed after accusing the royal family of racism and media manipulation.
The couple’s two young children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, will remain at the couple’s home in Southern California, according to the palace. Sussex’s spokespeople verified the news with an almost identical statement.
The coronation at Westminster Abbey on May 6 falls on their son’s birthday.
While the revelation should put an end to the “will he or won’t he” argument in the British media, it won’t put a stop to the royal soap opera involving Harry and Meghan as King Charles III prepares for his coronation.
When Harry attended the funerals of his grandfather, Prince Philip, and grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, pundits debated everything from whether he could wear his military uniform to where he sat. And there’s always the question of whether he’ll see his father and older brother, Prince William.
That excitement will be heightened by Harry and Meghan’s critique of the royal family in a six-part Netflix series on their decision to step back from royal duties three years ago, which was followed by Harry’s decision to divulge family secrets in his bestseller memoir “Spare.”
Harry and Meghan, who is biracial, have claimed that she was subjected to racist remarks from both the palace and the British press. Their decision to leave the country was influenced by their treatment.
The disclosures in “Spare,” including details of private discussions between Harry and his father and brother, Prince William, fueled tensions between Harry and his family, which became public when he and his wife moved to North America in 2020.
The book also contained charges that members of the royal family routinely provided unpleasant information about other members of the House of Windsor to the press in exchange for favorable publicity of themselves.
The prince singled out Camilla, the queen consort, accusing her of leaking private discussions to the public in order to restore her image following her marriage to Charles. Camilla was often derided for her long-running affair with Charles, which contributed to the dissolution of his marriage to the late Princess Diana, Harry and William’s mother.
The schism between Harry and his family erupted again last month when the Sussexes announced that they had been ordered to leave their house in Britain.
The couple’s main house before relinquishing royal duties and moving to Montecito, a wealthy enclave in Southern California, was Frogmore Cottage, a royal residence on the grounds of Windsor Castle west of London.
