Prince Harry has reportedly planned a whistlestop visit for his father’s Coronation next weekend, intending to fly back to the US within two hours of the ceremony’s end.
The Duke of Sussex will see his father, King Charles III, crowned at Westminster Abbey on Saturday but will be jetting straight back to his LA home.
It is understood the Duke will only be in the UK for around 24 hours as he intends to be back home for his son Archie’s fourth birthday, which coincides with Saturday’s Coronation.
The ceremony to formally crown the King is set to start at 11am and will last for around two hours. Harry will then be in he air around two hours later at 3pm.
The historic ceremony will be the first time Harry will be pictured with the Windsors since the funeral of his grandmother the late Queen, and the first time since lambasting the royals in his memoirs.
The Duke of Sussex will see his father, King Charles III, crowned at Westminster Abbey on Saturday. Pictured: The Duke of Sussex at the Southbank Centre, London, July 17, 2018
Harry (right) will be jetting straight back to his LA home after the ceremony to his wife Megan and their two children
The Duke of Sussex will see his father Charles crowned King on Saturday. It is understood the Duke will only be in the UK for around 24 hours
Regarding his brief visit for the Coronation, a source told The Sun: ‘Harry will be in and out of the UK in 24 hours.
‘He will only be doing the Coronation service then leaving.’
It was already reported earlier this month that the Prince would be going it alone at the Coronation, leaving wife Megan with their children Archie and Lilibet.
Buckingham Palace confirmed the news some weeks ago in a statement, saying it was ‘pleased to confirm’ the Duke of Sussex will be at Westminster Abbey on May 6.
But the Duchess of Sussex will stay home at the couple’s residence in Montecito with one-year-old Lilibet and Archie.
Following the earlier announcement over the royal couple’s attendance, and a royal observer told MailOnline: ‘Charles will be pleased. The rest of the family will be relieved that Meghan won’t be there – it would have been particularly uncomfortable for Kate.’
There had been much uncertainty within the palace over the Sussexes’ attendance. It was thought to have left royal officials unable to sign off arrangements for seating plans, transport, and security, as the announcement came after the official RSVP date.
But Harry, who laid bare his troubled relationship with the Royal Family in his Netflix documentary and autobiography Spare, will now be witness to his father Charles and stepmother the Queen Consort’s crowning next month.
Queen Consort Camilla and King Charles, pictured at the State Opening of Parliament in 2013
King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla are pictured in Malton, North Yorkshire, on April 5
The late Queen Elizabeth II, Charles, Camilla, William, Kate, Harry and Meghan attend the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey on March 9, 2020
The Gold State Coach during the Platinum Jubilee Pageant in London in June 2022
Harry’s attendance comes despite the rift within the Royal Family prompted by the Duke’s decision to reveal family secrets in his bestselling book.
The revelations, including details of private conversations with his father – and his brother, Prince William – fanned tensions between Harry and his family that became public when he and his wife moved to North America in 2020.
The book also included allegations that members of the royal family regularly feed the press unflattering information about other members of the House of Windsor in exchange for positive coverage of themselves.
Asked in one interview in January whether he would attend the coronation if given an invitation, Harry said: ‘There’s a lot that can happen between now and then. But the door is always open.’
Harry’s attendance will see him appear in a public setting with Charles, Camilla, his brother the Prince of Wales, sister in law the Princess of Wales and the rest of his family for the first time since he lambasted the royals in his memoirs.
It will also be the first time he has been pictured with the Windsors since the funeral of his grandmother the late Queen.
Harry criticised Charles’s parenting, said the King was jealous of Meghan and Kate, and accused William of physically attacking him in his tell-all book, which was published in January.
He also branded Camilla ‘dangerous’ and accused her of sacrificing him on her own ‘personal PR altar’.
