Confirmed: Prince Harry Will Attend King Charles’ Coronation, But Not Meghan Markle

(Image credit: Getty)

published 12 April 2023

After extensive speculation, Marie Claire has just learned that Prince Harry will attend his father King Charles’ Coronation on May 6 at Westminster Abbey in London. His wife, Meghan Markle, will not attend.

E News spoke to a representative of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who said Meghan will stay behind in California with her and Harry’s two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. Coincidentally, Archie’s fourth birthday also falls on May 6, the day of the ceremony.

Buckingham Palace also confirmed Harry’s attendance at the event. The news comes nine days after the RSVP deadline of Monday, April 3.

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Journalist Omid Scobie, who reports frequently on the Sussexes, tweeted that Archie's birthday played a factor into the decision, and that Harry will make a "fairly quick trip to the U.K." and will attend the ceremony at the Abbey and depart back for home in the U.S., apparently skipping the Coronation concert at Windsor Castle on May 7 and other Coronation weekend festivities.

A friend told People that Harry "wanted to be at the service to support his father at this important moment in his life." Charles is the oldest British monarch to be crowned at 74 years of age. For comparison's sake his mother, Queen Elizabeth, was just 27 at the time of her Coronation in June 1953.

More details to come as we know them.

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.