The Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla in Westminster Abbey. Photograph by Richard Pohle
Prince Harry revealed a brief look of dismay or uncertainty, while otherwise putting on a jovial display with some of his relatives, as he sat several rows back from his brother, Prince William, who took center stage at King Charles III’s coronation Saturday.
Harry’s brief awkward look and smile came amid the ongoing turmoil between him and prominent members of the royal family, notably between him and William and his stepmother, Camilla, who also was crowned Saturday.
As planned, the Duke of Sussex came to the coronation without his American wife, Meghan Markle, who remained at home in California. Wearing medals pinned to his suit jacket, the military veteran cut a solo figure as he walked down the aisle at Westminster Abbey and took a seat three rows back from his brother, his wife, Kate Middleton, and their children, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
For the most part, though, Harry was seen smiling and chatting amiably with cousins, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice, and their husbands before the start of the ceremony. From his spot in the third row, Harry watched the Archbishop of Canterbury place the crown on his Charles’ head and then heir-to-the-throne William kneel before their father and pledge his allegiance.
Harry’s less then prominent position at the coronation comes after he stopped being a senior working member of the monarchy when he and Meghan stepped away from royal life and moved to the United States in 2020. His estrangement from his family has grown since he and Meghan went public with allegations about royal family strife, dysfunction and racism — or unconscious bias, as Harry has recently said — in interviews, their Netflix documentary and Harry’s memoir, “Spare.”
In his book and in interviews, Harry took particular aim at William and Camilla. He alleged that his brother was unfairly hostile to Meghan and physically assaulted him during a 2019 argument and claimed that Camilla leaked stories to the U.K. tabloids at his and Meghan’s expense in order to gain positive publicity.
The Daily Mail reported that Harry had been invited to attend lunch at Buckingham Palace following the historic service — what could be seen as the royal family extending an “olive branch” to the renegade duke. But Harry also was expected to rush to catch a plane to fly back to California, so that he could be home for his son, Archie’s, fourth birthday.
Indeed, his stay in the U.K. was expected to be short — a little more than 24 hours. He reportedly flew into the U.K. Friday morning on a commercial jet and spent Friday night at his Frogmore Cottage, his former royal home near Windsor Castle.
Originally published at Martha Ross