Prince Harry and Meghan will receive invitations to King’s Coronation
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be invited to the Coronation of King Charles III despite their public criticism of the Royal family, The Telegraph has learned.
The Sussexes – who used their Netflix documentary to make a series of serious allegations against the palace and their family – will be included in the ceremony on May 6 if they wish to attend.
Neither Buckingham Palace nor Kensington Palace has responded to claims made in the series, including that the Prince of Wales “screamed and shouted” at his brother and briefed the media against him. They await further disclosures in Prince Harry’s memoir on Jan 10.
The palace will also not respond to public calls for the removal of the couple’s titles, it is understood, despite growing demands from critics for them to stop using Duke and Duchess of Sussex in their new lives.
Sources have said working members of the family intend to maintain “dignity” in the face of public criticism, continuing their engagements without further comment.
The Coronation will take place at Westminster Abbey, conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury. King Charles III will be crowned alongside the Queen Consort, with details of the involvement of other senior members of the Royal family to be confirmed closer to the time.
The Telegraph understands that the Sussexes have not yet received a formal invitation, in common with others, but a source said: “All members of the family will be welcome.”
The Prince of Wales is known to be closely involved in the planning, but it is unclear whether the Duke of Sussex will play a formal role. The date of the Coronation falls on the birthday of the Duke’s son, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, who will be turning four.
The family, who live in California, previously made the trip to Britain for the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, but the two young children did not fly over with the Duke and Duchess for her funeral.
The Royal family has this week been determined to present a united front, declining to comment on the six episodes of the Duke and Duchess’s Netflix documentary. One source said the focus was on retaining “dignity” without being drawn into a “never-ending cycle” of trying to have “the last word”.
Following the release of the first three episodes of the documentary on Dec 8, there were calls for the couple to be stripped of their titles.
The most recent episodes, released on Thursday, saw Prince Harry disclose to the Netflix documentary-makers that he had told the Royal family he and his wife were willing to relinquish their titles if their proposal to move to Canada and adopt “a different way of working” did not work out. “That was the plan,” he said.
Senior political sources are now urging the Duke and Duchess to simply stop using their titles rather than force Buckingham Palace or the privy council to remove them.
One Conservative MP, who did not want to be identified, said: “If they want to use the titles they should have more respect for the institution. They are trashing their family whilst using titles handed to them by that family. Have some self-respect.”
The Telegraph understands the Royal family believes that to remove the Duke and Duchess’s titles would be “unnecessarily punitive”.
One source familiar with the couple’s exit discussions said it was never on the table, adding: “It is more than clear that they are independent now.
“You have to ask what damage it is causing the institution? The HRH is different as it suggests they are working on behalf of the monarchy. A Dukedom does not.”
Another said of forced removal of the Sussex title: “I don’t think it’s something the palace would ever even consider.”
Speaking in the documentary of the challenges experienced during their time in the working Royal family, the Duke insisted he and the Duchess now planned to “move on”.
On Friday, the Royal family continued with a programme of engagements. The King danced with Holocaust survivors and praised the “wonderful” work of a Jewish charity during a visit to the JW3 Community Centre. Among those he met was Anne Frank’s stepsister Eva Schloss, 95, who described him as “very sweet”.
Meanwhile, Lady Hussey met Ngozi Fulani at Buckingham Palace to apologise for subjecting her to an “interrogation” over her heritage, which caused a royal race row.
She resigned from her honorary position as Lady of the Household hours after the conversation was made public.
Buckingham Palace said the two women enjoyed a “moving” and “wonderfully warm” meeting that ended in peaceful reconciliation and a palace pledge to extend diversity training.
