Harry and Meghan Get Coronati on Invites—Won’t Say if Coming

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Harry and Meghan’s Coronation guessing game

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have “received email correspondence” about the Coronation from King Charles, their office said Saturday night, strongly suggesting they have been invited to attend the landmark event, as The Royalist has long predicted they would be.

However the couple said they will not, for now, say if they are going.

In a statement reported by The Sunday Times, a spokesperson for the couple said that Harry had “recently received email correspondence from His Majesty’s office regarding the coronation. An immediate decision on whether the Duke and Duchess will attend will not be disclosed by us at this time.”

The Daily Beast reported this week that, despite new evidence of the extent of the estrangement between the Sussexes and the Windsors emerging after they were told to get out of their U.K. home, Frogmore Cottage (for more on this, see below) the working assumption was that Harry and Meghan would be invited to the ceremony and would come.

Harry suggested in some interviews promoting his book earlier this year that a condition of his attendance was an apology for the way he says he and Meghan were treated by the family saying the ball was “in their court.” But friends of the royals have dismissed any chance of that, with one saying this week: “It is clearly entirely up to them if they accept the invite. Plans are being made on the basis that they will.”

While Charles genuinely wants Harry to come, William is less keen, but happy to support his father’s wishes.

One source told The Daily Beast earlier this week: “William won’t shed a tear if Harry doesn’t make it. He feels utterly betrayed by Harry. Relations have never been this bad and he hates him for what he has done to the family in the books and interviews. He will support whatever decision his dad makes but it’s no secret he would prefer it if he wasn’t there, or, indeed, never stepped foot in England again.”

Royal commentator Duncan Larcombe, a former royal editor of the Sun, previously told The Daily Beast: “There is a strong commercial imperative for them to attend as their entire brand is predicated on their connection to royalty. Also, if they are invited and don’t come, they will look petty for snubbing Charles’ big day. So you’d have to say the odds are that they will be there.”

Larcombe said he suspected that as Harry and Meghan have no official role in the ceremony, they would be seated in the second tier of family, “with the likes of the Duke of Gloucester,” as they were at Queen Elizabeth’s platinum jubilee.

Harry and Meghan’s big royal accommodation mystery

The ongoing saga around where very rich members of the royal family will live in very big palaces continues. Two British newspapers are saying entirely different things this morning about the great royal Monopoly game, as a cost-of-living crisis grips the rest of Britain.

The Sunday Telegraph reports that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have not been offered alternative royal accommodation after being chucked out of Frogmore Cottage, and say visiting Britain with their children will be “complicated” if they live outside the security perimeters of a royal estate.

“It’s not just his son, it’s his grandchildren too,” a source noted of how King Charles’ family relationships may suffer.

However, according to the Mail on Sunday, King Charles is going to offer Harry and Meghan accommodation space at Buckingham Palace, This is after he evicted them from Frogmore Cottage, a state of affairs they were reportedly were pretty unbothered by. The Telegraph report takes. adifferent tack; they say the Sussexes were “disappointed” by the decision, but also recognized the great privilege they had.

There’s a problem, because this is the royals. Charles may offer the couple a suite of rooms previously occupied by Prince Andrew, which Harry and Meghan may not be too keen on. Andrew, after all, is alleged to have sexually abused Virginia Giuffre when she was underage and being sexually trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein, which he emphatically denies (paying her millions of dollars in an out-of-court settlement last year). Andrew, meanwhile, would be vacating Royal Lodge, which is reportedly being lined up for William and Kate.

The property, the Mail said, may need “extensive renovations”—not to mention the sage.

William and Kate are presently living in Adelaide Cottage in Windsor, which they see as too small; that residence may be offered to Andrew's youngest daughter, Eugenie, who is pregnant with her second child, and who was previously renting Frogmore.

A source told the Mail: “His Majesty is furious, as is William. But the King is not a bad man. He has no wish to see his brother Andrew homeless or penniless. Nor does he wish to deprive the Sussexes of a base in the UK. London is a better fit. The Sussexes have always wanted rooms at Buckingham Palace. They could have Andrew’s old rooms there, which are currently being vacated.”

A source added: “Royal Lodge is far too grand and much too big for Prince Andrew's current status. Plus it is geared towards children, with its Wendy house and pool, so of course it has long been the natural choice for Prince William. Adelaide Cottage is too small for a future king and queen in the long term. There isn't enough room for all the security they and their children will need in the years ahead, which is why Royal Lodge was being openly discussed as far back as January. It has been an idea on the agenda for much longer than that, since the queen was alive.

Another source told the Mail that Frogmore Cottage has been offered to Andrew on a “take-it-or-leave-it” basis, adding: “Andrew can have Frogmore Cottage or nothing. But at least Adelaide could eventually end up in the hands of one of his daughters.”

Fergie salutes the queen, praises Andrew

Sarah Ferguson is back on her promotional rounds having co-written a new novel, entitled, A Most Intriguing Lady, which she is mercilessly plugging. The only problem is that all anyone wants to talk to her about is her disgraced husband Prince Andrew.

In a long interview with the Telegraph she stuck up for him, casting her support for him, rather cleverly, as an act of fealty to the queen, saying at one point: “During the last three years, her poor son has been going through such a tumultuous time, and I think HM was very relieved I could help her with him, so we became even closer, then…She knew I will always be there. Always. Because I love her.”

Fergie’s rather good on the queen, as it happens, saying: “She was able to completely and utterly dilute chaos. And still carry on. And still smile. And still go through everything that she went through.”

Incredibly, the interview, in a restaurant, ends with Fergie ordering a slice of chocolate cake for Andrew to take away. He really must be economizing.

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What more is there to say Harry?

Prince Harry’s strangely non-compelling interview with Dr Gabor Maté yesterday was a reminder that Harry’s poor-me schtick is fast running out of road. Despite saying that he did not see himself as a victim, Harry sounded like he did as he laid the blame for his unhappiness on his upbringing and vowed “not to pass on any trauma or negative experiences that I’ve had as a kid” to his own children.

The doctor was kind enough not to suggest that courting the global media by producing multiple mega-blockbusters about what a load of complete bastards your family are might not be the best way to ensure your kids have as normal as possible an upbringing.

This week in royal history

Happy birthday Prince Edward! He turns 59 on Friday March 10. The late queen’s youngest son was born at Buckingham Palace.

Unanswered questions

So, have Harry and Meghan been offered royal rooms or not? And when will they declare their decision about attending the Coronation? And if they do come where will they stay?

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