Palace keeping seat for Harry and Meghan at coronation as couple ‘expected’ to attend

AP

Buckingham Palace staff have been told to plan for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to attend King Charles III’s coronation, it has been reported.

Although the King does not know if the couple plan to travel from California to London for the ceremony, the Sussexes are being factored into all arrangements including cars, seating in Westminster Abbey, and dining, The Times reports.

The couple, who have begun using the titles prince and princess for their children in an “alignment” with the Palace on the matter, are yet to confirm whether they will attend the historic ceremony on 6 May.

A spokesperson for the Sussexes previously said Harry and Meghan had received email correspondence from the King’s office about the event, but an immediate decision on their attendance would not yet be disclosed.

Officials within the Master of the Household’s Department and the Lord Chamberlain’s Office are anticipating their attendance. Buckingham Palace is yet to comment.

Harry and Meghan’s relationship with the King and the Prince of Wales has remained troubled in the wake of the publication of the duke’s controversial tell-all memoir Spare.

The King’s second son criticised Charles’s parenting, accused William of physically attacking him and branded Camilla “dangerous”.

Elsewhere in the memoir, Prince Harry claimed that William called Meghan “difficult”, “rude” and “abrasive”.

Buckingham Palace officials expect the Sussexes to attend the coronation (Reuters)

Harry remarked that he told his therapist about the physical altercation with William before Meghan, but she later noticed the scrapes and bruises on his back. He was “terribly sad”, Harry wrote.

Spare also claimed that Kate was upset by Meghan’s comments that the Princess of Wales must have been suffering from “baby brain” during a phone call made in 2018.

Harry reports that Meghan apologised, but William allegedly “pointed a finger” at her.

“It’s rude, Meghan. These things are not done here”, William reportedly said.

“If you don’t mind, keep your finger out of my face”, Meghan replied.

In the three years since the pair stepped down as working royals, the couple have been critical of the royal family and the monarchy, telling their story in their Netflix documentary and in a televised interview with Oprah Winfrey.

It emerged last week that Harry and Meghan have been asked to vacate their UK home Frogmore Cottage, in a move sanctioned by the King.

It has also been reported that senior members of the royal family, including Charles, Camilla, William and Kate were not present at Princess Lilbet’s coronation last week, despite the Sussexes inviting them.