Family rift costs Harry invitation to duke’s wedding
PRINCE Harry and his wife Meghan have been excluded from the Duke of Westminster’s wedding because of the royal rift.
While the King and Queen are invited along with the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Sussexes have been snubbed for what is billed as the society wedding of the year.
It is understood Hugh Grosvenor, Duke of Westminster, had wanted to invite them but decided against it, fearing the family drama would overshadow the day.
The exclusion will be a particular blow to Harry and Meghan as the duke is godfather to their son, Archie.
But he is also a godparent to William’s eldest son, George, and the Prince of Wales is thought to be in the running to be best man.
The Duke of Westminster, 32, is set to marry his fiancee, Olivia Henson, 30, at Chester Cathedral on June 7 in a spectacular ceremony.
A friend of William and Harry’s told the Sunday Times: ‘It’s incredibly sad it has come to this.
‘Hugh is one of very few close friends of William and Harry’s who has maintained strong bonds and a line of communication with both.
‘He wishes they could put their heads together and patch things up, but realises it’s unlikely to happen before the wedding. He wanted to avoid anything overshadowing the day, especially for Olivia, and doesn’t want any awkwardness.’
The duke is believed to be the only friend who William and Harry both chose as a godparent.
The Sussexes have not publicly named Archie’s godparents, but they include Tiggy Pettifer, a former nanny to William and Harry, Mark Dyer, a former equerry to Charles, and Harry’s friend Charlie van Straubenzee.
The duke is the King’s godson and had an official role in Charles’s procession at the coronation in May.
He is understood to be conscious that drama surrounding Harry and Meghan could cause tension for Charles, Camilla, William and Kate.
Such potential awkwardness was inflamed last week with the publication of Endgame, the book by the Sussexes’ cheerleader Omid Scobie. Beyond castigating every royal apart from Harry and
‘It’s incredibly sad it has to come to this’
Meghan, a Dutch version also named Kate and Charles as having allegedly made remarks about the colour of Archie’s skin ahead of his birth.
The Duke of Westminster is one of the richest men in Britain with an estate worth over £9billion. He inherited 140,000 acres of land in Oxfordshire, Cheshire, Lancashire and Scotland, as well as 300 acres in Mayfair and Belgravia in central London when his father died in 2016.
A spokesman for the duke said yesterday: ‘We are not in a position to comment on the guest list.’