London
CNN
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Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, have received an invitation to King Charles III’s coronation — but the couple has not yet confirmed whether they will attend, a spokesperson for the duke told CNN Sunday.
“I can confirm that the Duke has recently received e-mail correspondence from His Majesty’s office regarding the coronation,” the spokesperson said. “We will not disclose an immediate decision on whether the Duke and Duchess will attend at this time.”
King Charles and his wife, Queen Camilla, will be crowned on May 6 at Westminster Abbey.
The coronation will see three days of festivities across the country in which the public will be invited to participate.
Buckingham Palace said the coronation itself would be “a solemn religious service, as well as an occasion for ceremony and festival,” reflecting “the role of the monarch today and looking to the future, while rooted in ancient traditions.”
Experts interpreted the line as a hint that Charles’ coronation would be different and more subdued than his late mother’s seven decades earlier, with a shorter ceremony and modifications to some of the feudal elements in the ritual.
At this point, the palace has not specified which members of the family will appear in the procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey, and on the palace balcony at the end of the day alongside the king and queen.
It follows Prince Andrew’s continued banishment from public life as a result of historic allegations of sexual abuse and the publication of Prince Harry’s memoirs, which criticized his family.
Harry previously refused to be concerned about whether his family would return for his father’s coronation.
“The door is always open,” he said in a January interview with Britain’s ITV for the publication of his book. “The ball is in their court. There is a lot to discuss and I really hope they are willing to sit down and talk about it.”
On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex told CNN that the couple had been asked to vacate Frogmore Cottage, their official residence in the UK.
Buckingham Palace said Wednesday it would not comment. A royal source told CNN that any such discussions would be a private family matter.
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