Will King talk peace with Harry before coronation?
PEACE talks between Prince Harry and the Royal Family must be held by April to avoid ‘a circus’ at the King’s coronation, it was claimed yesterday.
Relations between the Duke of Sussex and his father and older brother have reached an all-time low following the publication of his memoir Spare and a series of interviews to publicise the book, in which he attacked the royals.
But insiders insisted resolving issues with Charles was still possible, and needed to happen to avoid simmering tensions within the family from overshadowing his coronation in May.
last week, in a series of interviews to promote his book, Harry claimed he wanted ‘reconciliation’ and that he was ‘willing to forgive’.
Peace talks are already being planned by those close to the King, it has been claimed.
Royal insiders said it was ‘the only way forward’ and that a meeting must be arranged by April, ahead of Charles’ coronation on May 6.
Sources have told the Daily Mail that Harry, 38, and wife Meghan, 41, will be invited to attend the ceremony but they have refused to say whether they will go.
If tensions between the couple and other senior royals cannot be resolved, then their presence – or their absence – could prove to be a distraction from the coronation, and would be personally wounding for Charles.
A royal source told The Sunday Times: ‘They have to invite them in before the coronation, or it will become such a circus.’ Another source said: ‘It’s going to take flexibility on all sides, but it can be done. It’s fixable.
‘It needs Harry over here, in the room with the King and Prince of Wales and a couple of other family members.
‘ Not everyone here behaved well, but Harry’s got to be able to sit down and say: “We didn’t behave well either”.
‘We’ve got to move on it and get it done by April. The King needs a clear run for the coronation.’
Despite talk of reconciliation, Harry has said he and Meghan need an apology from the royals. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, he said: ‘What I’d really like is some accountability. And an apology to my wife.’
He did not specify what he expected his family to apologise for, but he went on: ‘You know what you did, and I now know why you did it. And you’ve been caught out, so just come clean.’
Spare, which has become the fastest-selling non-fiction book in British history, included damaging allegations that William physically attacked his brother and that senior royals were jealous of Meghan’s initial popularity with the public.
Friends say William feels betrayed and angered by his brother’s constant verbal attacks on the Royal Family.
Both he and Charles are said to feel concern that anything they say privately to Harry could be made public by him or Meghan.
There are also fears inside Buckingham Palace that the couple could use reconciliation talks or the coronation itself as fodder for further interviews. The Prime Minister could be drawn in to the debate over whether Prince Harry should be invited to his father’s coronation, it was claimed yesterday.
Insiders believe the decision should be taken ‘out of the King’s hands’ following controversy surrounding Harry’s revelations, sources told The Mail on Sunday.
They believe Charles should use the ‘Churchill precedent’ to escape having to decide whether to bar his son from the ceremony or invite him and risk his presence overshadowing the event.
In 1953, Winston Churchill, then prime minister, advised the Duke of Windsor – who had abdicated as
‘It’ll take flexibility on all sides’
edward VIII more than 16 years earlier – that he should not attend Queen elizabeth’s coronation.
However, a Whitehall source has said that the Government was not usually involved in choosing royal guests.
The Sunday Times suggested the Archbishop of Canterbury could become involved in efforts towards reducing tensions, as he has previously served as a trusted confidant for both the Royal Family and the Sussexes.
Asked last month if he believed reconciliation was possible, Justin Welby said: ‘There is always a way forward. But it has to be at the right time.’
Buckingham Palace has declined to comment.