The Duke of Sussex will attend his father’s Coronation alone as his wife, Meghan, has opted to remain in California, Buckingham Palace has announced.
Prince Harry, 38, had spent several weeks agonising over whether to travel to London for the historic ceremony owing to the deep rift that has divided his family.
Meghan has not returned to the UK since Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in September last year. She will remain at the couple’s home in Montecito, California, with the couple’s two children, Archie, three, and Lilibet, one.
There were many factors that influenced the Duchess’s decision not to attend the Coronation, but chief among them was the desire to celebrate Archie’s fourth birthday, which falls on the same day as the Coronation on May 6, the Telegraph understands.
Archie and Lilibet were not formally invited to the Coronation as Buckingham Palace aides waited to hear if they would make the trip before factoring them into any plans.
In a statement, the Palace said: “Buckingham Palace is pleased to confirm that The Duke of Sussex will attend the Coronation Service at Westminster Abbey on May 6th.
“The Duchess of Sussex will remain in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.”
Prince Harry is understood to have been holding out for an apology that he asked of his family via television interviews in January, when he insisted he wanted to reconcile with the King and the Prince of Wales.
However, there has since been no meaningful contact between the two sides.
Both the King and Prince William are understood to feel deeply betrayed by the many personal family revelations the Duke has made in his memoir, Spare, and in various interviews.
Such is the gulf between the two brothers that multiple sources have said they cannot see how the relationship will ever be repaired.
The King was said to have been too “busy” to see his son earlier this month when he made a surprise visit to the UK to attend a High Court hearing concerning his claim against the publisher of the Daily Mail.
But despite a turbulent few months that have also seen the Sussexes evicted from their UK base, Frogmore Cottage in Windsor, the Duke wanted to be by his father’s side when he is crowned.
He is acutely aware that the historic occasion will be “pretty much the most important day” of the King’s life.
In his book, he wrote warmly of his relationship with his “Pa” and later told ITV he would “always love” his father.
Sources suggested that the Duke knew he would always regret it if he turned down the opportunity to be at the Coronation.
While the Duchess has also spoken in glowing terms about her father-in-law, who walked her down the aisle on her wedding day, she is not bound by such ties to the Royal family or to the UK.
Meghan, 41, considers her future to be in the US, and that is very much where she is focused, one friend said.
Her appearance at the Coronation after all that has been said risked overshadowing the celebratory occasion. The Sussexes are also understood to have been concerned about how their attendance might be received by the British public.
There is also no love lost between Meghan and the Prince and Princess of Wales. In Spare, the Duke revealed the extent of the froideur between his wife and his sister-in-law.
He claimed the Princess demanded an apology from Meghan after she suggested Catherine had “baby brain”.
The Princess is also alleged to have complained to her sister-in-law that they were not close enough to talk about her hormones.
The Duke’s presence at Westminster Abbey will see him join his closest family members for the first time since Queen Elizabeth’s funeral last September.
He is not expected to take part in either the King’s Procession or the Coronation Procession to and from Buckingham Palace as he is not a working member of the family.
For the same reason, he will not appear on the palace balcony.
In his book, the Duke said: “I love my mother country and I love my family and I always will. I just wish, in the second-darkest moment of my life, they’d both been there for me.”
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