A royal letdown. Meghan Markle won’t be attending father-in-law King Charles III’s coronation in May — and the monarch wishes she could be there.
“Charles is sad that Meghan will not be in attendance. Charles was hoping the coronation would be a chance to better connect and maintain healing between them,” a source exclusively tells Us Weekly.
Another insider adds: “King Charles is sad Meghan can not attend but is thrilled [Prince] Harry will be in attendance.”
Although Charles, 74, immediately became king after Queen Elizabeth II’s death in September 2022, his official coronation is scheduled for May 6 — the same day as Meghan, 41, and Harry’s son Archie’s 4th birthday. The couple — who tied the knot in May 2018 — also share daughter Lilibet, 22 months.
Buckingham Palace announced in a Wednesday, April 12, statement that Harry, 38, would attend the ceremony while “the Duchess of Sussex will remain in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.” Us previously confirmed in March that both the prince and the Suits alum had been extended an invitation to the big day.
“I can confirm The Duke has recently received email correspondence from His Majesty’s office regarding the coronation,” a spokesperson for the couple said at the time.
Harry had previously been candid about his willingness to attend the event despite his estrangement from his father and his brother, Prince William.
“There’s a lot that can happen between now and then,” he said during his January ITV interview. “But, you know, the door is always open. The ball is in their court. There’s a lot to be discussed and I really hope that they are willing to sit down and talk about it.”
The Spare author and Meghan have been at odds with the royal family since they stepped back from their roles as senior royals in 2020. They have spoken out against the U.K. media and The Firm on numerous occasions, including in their March 2021 tell-all CBS interview and their December 2022 Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan.
“You would just see it play out, like a story about someone in the family would pop up for a minute, and they’d go, ‘We’ve got to make that go away,’ but there’s real estate on a website homepage,” Meghan explained in Harry & Meghan, claiming that fake stories about her were planted in the press to draw attention away from other royals.
Harry’s attendance at Charles’ coronation will mark his first time reuniting with his family since the queen’s funeral in September 2022 — and the release of his bombshell memoir, which dropped in January. Despite his criticism of the family business, the Duke of Sussex has said that he wants to mend fences with his clan.
“I would like to get my father back. I would like to have my brother back,” the Archewell cofounder said during his ITV sit-down earlier this year, after claiming that his family had “shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile.”
Meghan and Charles, for their part, have had their good moments over the years, despite turmoil in the family. The former Prince of Wales walked the actress — who is estranged from her father, Thomas Markle — down the aisle during her nuptials to Harry.
“Prince Charles was very touched to be asked by Meghan to walk her down the aisle and he is very much looking forward to welcoming her into the family,” a Buckingham Palace source exclusively told Us in May 2018.
Meghan later recalled the moment she asked Charles to escort her to the altar on her wedding day.
“Harry’s dad is very charming. And … I said to him, like, ‘I’ve lost my dad in this.’ So, him as my father-in-law was really important to me,” she said in the fourth episode of Harry & Meghan. “I asked him to walk me down the aisle and he said yes. The whole thing was surreal. It was at that moment, I could also see H.”
