Buckingham Palace officials have confirmed that the Duke of Sussex and the Duke of York will not have any formal role at King Charles’s Coronation today. Harry and Andrew, who are no longer working royals, will attend the service, but will not perform any duties.
The two men will also be absent from the procession behind the Gold State Coach carrying the newly crowned King and Queen from Westminster Abbey back to Buckingham Palace after the ceremony.
All eyes will be on Harry as he faces his relatives in public for the first time since he criticised Charles, Camilla and the Prince and Princess of Wales in his tell-all memoir Spare.
Meghan will remain at home in California with their children, Archie and Lili, celebrating Archie’s fourth birthday which falls today.
The Duke of Sussex and the Duke of York will not have any formal role at the coronation, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.
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Harry has indicated he has enough material to fill another book, which is likely to make the royals wary of encountering him.
He will make a quick exit, flying back to the US to mark Archie’s birthday, and is expected to attend only the abbey ceremony.
Andrew stepped down from public life after his disastrous Newsnight interview in November 2019 and the furore over his friendship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The late Queen’s disgraced second son went on to pay millions to settle a civil sexual assault case to a woman he claimed never to have met. He vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
His mother stripped him of all of his honorary military roles, including Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, and he gave up his HRH style.
Meanwhile the King has hosted heads of state from around the world at a Buckingham Palace reception on the eve of the coronation.
The Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence also greeted their overseas guests at the event.
Completing the royal contingent were the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent.
The event was the last of several engagements by the royals on Friday.
Among the guests were First Lady of the United States, Jill Biden, who was seen speaking animatedly with Kate.