The Duke of Sussex arrived alone at the coronation ceremony after his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, and young children opted not to attend and remain at home in California.
The king’s younger son, who stepped back as a working royal in 2020 and later moved to the US, has not been seen in public with the royals since the publication of his memoir Spare earlier this year, in which he was highly critical of his father, his stepmother, Queen Camilla, and brother, the Prince of Wales.
Relations between the family members are said to remain extremely frosty and there was some speculation over whether Prince Harry would attend the coronation at all. Sources indicated the fact the coronation fell on his son Archie’s fourth birthday played a part in the duchess’s decision to remain away.
The prince, who flew into the UK on Friday, walked into Westminster alone among a group of junior royals, wearing medals pinned to his suit jacket. He was seated in the abbey two rows behind his brother, and immediately between Jack Brooksbank, the husband of the Duke of York’s daughter Princess Eugenie, and 86-year-old Princess Alexandra, a first cousin of Elizabeth II.
Those seated on the row in front included Princess Anne, her husband, V Adm Timothy Laurence, and the Duke of Kent.
The front row was reserved for the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children, and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, Prince Edward and his wife, Sophie.
For the queen’s funeral last September, Harry sat in the second row at Westminster Abbey, directly behind Charles.
During the service, as the congregation paid homage to the king, Harry was seen, along with the other royals around him, speaking the words: “God save King Charles. Long live King Charles. May the king live forever.”
Though no longer a working royal, Harry remains fifth in line to the throne, behind the Prince of Wales and his three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. Harry and Meghan’s children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, are sixth and seventh in line.
Harry and the king’s brother, the Duke of York, who is also no longer a working royal, will be absent from the procession behind the gold state coach carrying the newly crowned king and queen from Westminster Abbey back to Buckingham Palace after the ceremony.
Harry is expected to attend only the abbey ceremony before returning to the US.
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