Prince William and Prince Harry Will Be Separated at Coronation to Avoid Any Confrontation, Reports Say

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published 16 April 2023

It will be a quick in-and-out trip to the U.K. for Prince Harry—he will attend his father King Charles’ Coronation ceremony on May 6 at Westminster Abbey in London but plans to depart almost immediately after for home in the U.S., and his son Prince Archie’s fourth birthday.

And while at the ceremony, according to The Express, Harry will be seated several rows behind senior royals, done on purpose so that William and Harry will not have to be near one another, the outlet reports.

It seems most members of the royal family have “no interest” in socializing with Harry, OK reports. (He likely won’t have time to do so even if they did.)

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“Sources have suggested that other family members—with the possible exception of Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie—have no interest in talking with Harry beyond the most basic of greetings, suggesting the event will be even more awkward than Harry clearly feared,” an insider says.

The source also notes that while William “would never have stopped his brother” from attending, he still has “no plans” to speak with him, though there is a chance the brothers might interact as “a gesture of goodwill for their father.”

In addition to sitting several rows behind William, Harry is also not expected to take part in the “procession after the service or join other members of the royal family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, or for other celebrations,” the source says.

Of Harry and Meghan’s decision, Page Six reports that the couple “had to make a decision that felt genuine and authentic, especially after everything that has been said and all the things that have gone down,” an insider says. “They care about their family, so Meghan is going to stay [in California] and Harry is going to support his dad.” A second source adds “There was no way that Meghan was going to miss her son’s birthday.”

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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.