Invites for King Charles’ Coronation on May 6 are expected to be sent out within the next week, and despite the ongoing and explosive drama surrounding the King evicting Prince Harry and Meghan Markle from their U.K. home, Frogmore Cottage, the couple is still expected to be invited to the ceremony, according to Us Weekly.
According to a Marie Claire report, the Sussexes were served with an eviction notice to vacate the property on January 11, just one day after Harry’s explosive memoir, Spare, was released on January 10. (That’s not a coincidence.) So, while the general public is unaware of this, those in the know have been aware of it for nearly two months.
Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams tells Us Weekly “I feel that they’ll definitely be invited, but I think that the dynamic is changing. The royals have put up with a tremendous amount of problems, so far as they’re concerned. Since the beginning of December to the publication of Spare and all those interviews, and now the interview coming up, it’s been a damaging and difficult time for them.”
The TLDR for those living under a rock: Long have tensions existed between Harry, Meghan, and the rest of the royal family. They erupted in December with the release of Harry & Meghan, the couple’s six-part Netflix docuseries, and exploded the following month with the publication of Spare. Eviction papers apparently served as retaliation, and now two questions are raised: Will the Sussexes not only attend the Coronation but will they even be invited?
Harry’s older brother Prince William, according to Fitzwilliams, “feels very strongly” about Harry’s attendance (gonna assume big brother feels strongly against seeing Harry in May), but, after all, “Charles is a symbol of national unity, of course, as the monarch, and the invitation comes from him,” Fitzwilliams says. “So as far as William is concerned, I mean, it’s a terribly deep rift, and I don’t see it being mended.”
According to Page Six, despite everything, Harry and Meghan have an open invitation to the Coronation. And, assuming they do receive the invitation, the Sussexes will have the upper hand because all eyes will be on them whether they are present or not.
“Whatever happens, Harry and Meghan will always be the ones in the headlines,” a Palace insider says. “Whether they come or they stay at home in California, they do hold the upper hand.” Another royal source tells the outlet that Buckingham Palace expects the pair to attend: “Harry has always vowed to uphold the values of the monarchy,” the insider says. “And how do you not come to your father’s Coronation?”
The event is at risk as headlines like this threaten to overshadow Charles’ special day. According to Page Six, Charles and his team of advisors will want to settle everything before May 6. “Nothing must deflect from the actual Coronation,” a friend of the royal family Hugo Vickers says. “It’s very important. I don’t know if Harry and Meghan will both come [to the Coronation], but the message I’m getting is that Charles is concerned about his son and wishes to leave the door open for him.”
Just not the door of Frogmore, apparently. (Sorry, had to.) Page Six cites a Palace insider as saying it was the perfect time for Charles to serve the eviction papers, as “there is not much sympathy left for Harry and Meghan in the U.K.” Yet, to the Sussexes, “being chucked out of Frogmore reportedly feels like yet another move to oust them from the family completely,” Page Six reports.
“It’s a shame, of course,” a Sussex insider says of the eviction, adding that Harry and Meghan are most hurt because Frogmore was a gift from Her late Majesty in 2018, the same year the couple married. “Frogmore was intended to originally be their forever home and was a gift from the Queen before they ever thought of leaving the U.K.”
A royal source calls Frogmore sitting empty “wasteful” the Sussexes rarely visit and for their part, Harry and Meghan are more than happy at their $14.5 million home in Montecito, according to the Sussex insider. “They are not victims, nor do they feel like victims,” the source says. “They have a home to live in, so they are just going along with what is asked and trying to move along.”