Prince Harry and Meghan Markle may still be drawn into attending King Charles III’s Coronation despite the royal rift flaring over the loss of their UK home, experts told latestpagenews.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have had Frogmore Cottage in Windsor since 2019, and the Grade II listed house is protected by armed police because it’s on the royal estate.
However, Charles has asked them to vacate the property by early summer, while Prince Andrew may move into there to replace them if forced out of his current, far larger home Royal Lodge.
The dispute will likely have stirred long-running family resentments, but Ingrid Seward, the author of Prince Philip Revealedtold latestpagenews she feels Harry and Meghan would still come to Britain in May for Charles’ Coronation.
“I’ve always had the impression that they would come to the Coronation,” she said, “because they need the royal star dust.”
Seward said the decision on Frogmore will partly come from the fact “Charles does not want a lot of houses under his auspices being empty,” but she also believes Prince William may have his eye on Royal Lodge.
The 30-room mansion is not only larger than Frogmore, but also significantly larger than Prince William and Kate Middleton’s new home, Adelaide Cottage, which is also on the Windsor estate.
Seward felt Charles would invite Harry and Meghan to the coronation: “He may not be happy for them to be there but I don’t think he will tell them not to come—his advisers would say ‘this is going to give so much fodder to the media.”
Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, author of This Is Why I Resisttold latestpagenews that attending the coronation would show “maturity” on Harry and Meghan’s part.
“If they are invited and choose to come then it would be a case of they are not attending because it is a coronation, it would be because it is his father,” she said.
“However Harry may be feeling about the betrayal and the family angst, it would just be them demonstrating maturity and that they are above the pettiness coming from Charles and William.”
On Prince Andrew being given Frogmore, she added: “I cannot comprehend a family that is so dysfunctional that it would reward the person bringing it into disrepute and punish the person who has done nothing wrong.”
Losing Frogmore will likely make future trips to Britain more complicated for Harry and Meghan as it had police bodyguards.
However, the Sussexes will be able to hold onto the property until after the Coronation, meaning the main barrier to attending the historic ceremony would be emotional.
Omid Scobie, author of biography Finding Freedomwrote in his Yahoo! News column: “It’s news, sources tell me, that has left Harry and Meghan stunned, and at least two members of the Royal Family ‘appalled’.”
Harry and Meghan’s spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday: “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been requested to vacate their residence at Frogmore Cottage.”
Jack Royston is the chief royal correspondent at latestpagenews, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jack_royston and read his stories on latestpagenews‘s The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@latestpagenews.com. We’d love to hear from you.
