Prince Harry is “on the horns of a dilemma” when it comes to whether or not to attend King Charles’s coronation, according to a royal expert.
Nigel Cawthorne, author of Prince Andrew, Maxwell and the Palace, said whether or not the Duke of Sussex, 38, attends the May 6 event, he will be scrutinized.
According to reports, Buckingham Palace is making plans for Harry and Meghan to attend the King’s coronation, with staff organizing logistics for the historic occasion being instructed to include the Sussexes in their plans.
But tensions within the firm, not just between Prince Harry and the rest of the royal family, but also with Prince Andrew, have put the king in “an impossible position,” according to Nigel.
He said, “There is a battle royal going on here. It’s like shit. Definitely tat. With the immaculate queen gone, the monarchy is looking a little worn.
Prince Harry (pictured while appearing on The Late Show earlier this year) is ‘on the brink of a dilemma’ over whether or not to attend his father’s coronation, according to a royal author
Charles is in an impossible position. If Andrew or Harry, or both, show up, they’ll smear the coronation and take the spotlight away from him.
“Their absence will equally make headlines and diminish the significance of the ceremony.”
He continued: ‘The coronation is the key moment in the monarchy, but the highest royals can’t be bothered to show up. Imagine a wedding or funeral where a brother or son doesn’t show up. It speaks volumes.’
Speaking specifically of the monarch’s youngest son, Nigel said: ‘Harry also faces a dilemma.
How unpopular does he want to be? Every time he opens his mouth, he drops in the polls. He is Eddie the Eagle of the royal family.
“If he shows up, he risks having rotten tomatoes thrown at him. If he stays away, he turns his back [the Royal Family]. Only, by the way, my son and daughter are a prince and a princess.’
His comments follow news that Harry and Meghan have revealed they have started naming their children Archie and Lilibet Prince and Princess after secretly baptizing their daughter in California.
The Sussexes held an Anglican ceremony at their Montecito mansion earlier this month for between 20 and 30 friends, including her billionaire godfather Tyler Perry.
Meanwhile, King Charles (pictured at a Buckingham Palace ceremony this week) is in ‘an impossible position’ according to royal author Nigel Cawthorne, thanks to family tensions
Harry and Meghan invited King Charles, Queen Consort Camilla and the Prince and Princess of Wales to the ceremony in California last Friday, but they declined, a source close to the couple told People magazine. It is not known when the British royals were asked to attend – or how an invitation was sent to the UK.
The Court Circular – the official record of British royal engagements – reveals that none of the senior royals except Princess Anne attended any events on the day of the christening.
A statement from the Sussexes’ referred to the 21-month-old as ‘Princess Lilibet Diana’ – revealing for the first time that the pair have decided to invoke their right to use ‘Princess’ for Lilibet, six months since joining the throne of King Charles last September. Archie will be called Prince.
Harry and Meghan wouldn’t want to deny their children the chance to inherit royal titles from their father – they see it as their birthright – but will give Archie and Lili the chance to decide whether to drop or keep using the royal titles if they that are. older.
Meghan told Oprah Winfrey that Archie was not given the title of prince because of his race, but this was disputed by the palace and constitutional experts.
However, when Archie was born seventh in line to the then Queen’s throne in May 2019, he was too far down the line of succession.
Rules dictate that although he was a great-grandchild of the monarch, he was not a firstborn son of a future king, so not automatically a prince.
An insider claimed that 21-month-old Lili’s title of princess and Archie’s title of prince will be used in formal situations — but not in everyday use by the couple.
And the monarch won’t stand in their way, Buckingham Palace has revealed, adding that the royal family’s official website has now been updated to name the children Princess Lilibet and Prince Archie. It referred earlier to Lilibet as ‘Miss Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor’ and her brother as ‘Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor’.
The comments follow news that the Sussexes’ daughter Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor (pictured last June) was recently baptized in Montecito
Title lines drawn up by King George V in 1917 mean that as children of a sovereign’s son, Archie and Lili automatically became a prince and a princess when Charles became king.
They, too, would be entitled to an HRH style, but while Harry and Meghan keep their HRH style, they no longer use it after leaving the working monarchy.
It was previously reported in 2021 that in an effort to limit the number of important royals, when Charles became monarch, Charles planned to prevent Archie from becoming a prince.
To do this, he would have to issue a Letters Patent altering Archie’s right to be a prince and Lili’s right to be a princess.
Lili was baptized by the Anglican Bishop of Los Angeles, John Taylor. Afterwards, guests and family, including Doria Ragland, danced to a playlist of songs from Harry and Meghan’s wedding reception at Windsor Castle. A gospel choir also reportedly sang Oh Happy Day and This Little Light of Mine.