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LONDON - Prince Harry had a ‘heart to heart’ with his father King Charles about his invitation to the Coronation ceremony before agreeing to attend after weeks of talks over the event’s security, it has been claimed.
Sources previously said there were weeks of negotiations, likened to ‘transatlantic ping pong’, between Harry and Buckingham Palace about what role he might play, where he might sit and security arrangements.
But royal insiders have come out, yesterday, and claimed Prince Harry readily agreed to attend after a personal chat with the King - and that he wants to ‘show support for his father’.
It was confirmed this week that the Duke of Sussex will attend the Coronation alone, while his wife Meghan stays in California with their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
The Coronation, which is just three weeks away, will see both King Charles III and Queen Camilla crowned in front of 2 000 people in Westminster Abbey.
Sources told the Sun on Sunday that King Charles is ‘happy’ with his son’s decision and ‘understands’ that Meghan will stay at home with the children because it is Archie’s fourth birthday on the same day as the ceremony. They added there is a ‘willingness and wanting to mend on both sides’ of the Atlantic - although whether that extends to the ill-feeling between Harry and Prince William is unknown. The Duke is said to still not have spoken to the Prince of Wales since the release of his tell-all memoir ‘Spare’, in which he referred to his elder brother as his ‘archnemesis’ and accused him of physically attacking him. On a visit to Sandhurst on Friday the King expressed his ‘pride’ in his two sons - despite the fact they are not currently on speaking terms.
He told cadets: ‘Speaking as a father of two alumni of this academy who remembers their passing out parades, I know they will be full of immense pride in witnessing you on parade.’
The King is said to want to use the Coronation as an opportunity to heal rifts and bring in family members from the cold, most noticeably in relation to his younger son.