Insiders Speak Out About Why Prince Harry Is Going To The Coronation Without Meghan Markle: 'Things Are Strained'

Prince Harr looking at Stephen Colbert
(Image credit: CBS)

It’s possible that tensions between the royal family and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have never been higher, despite the couple leaving their official duties as royals behind in 2020. The past several months have seen not only the release of their popular (but brutally reviewed) docuseries, Harry & Meghan, for those with a Netflix subscription, but a number of wild revelations and allegations come from Spare, the prince’s memoir. Now, as the world prepares to watch the Duke of Sussex attend his father’s coronation without his duchess, an insider has spoken out about why Markle won’t be there.

What Was Said About Why Prince Harry Is Attending The Coronation Without Meghan Markle?

The rumors and speculation about whether or not the duo would attend King Charles’ coronation as a couple, with Harry by himself, or not at all had been going on since Queen Elizabeth II passed away in early September 2022, with even Oprah Winfrey commenting on what the Sussexes should do. Though we now know what was decided on, royal watchers still have tons of questions about how the May 6 event will go down, and why Archie (whose birthday is actually on coronation day) and Lilibet’s mom won’t be there. About the decision, one insider recently told People:

At this point, it's become so personal. Maybe what they wanted wasn't achieved, but at the end of the day, he's going there to support his dad.

Well, I don’t think anyone who’s paid even only the slightest bit of attention to the drama in the British royal family would doubt at all that “it’s become so personal.” My guess is that it would be hard for the conflicts not to be personal, when you’re dealing with family members who have had tension for years beyond when Meghan and Harry became a couple, and parties on every side throwing troubling claims at each other.

Prince Harry was in England for another tabloid lawsuit not that long ago, and it seemed telling for many people that he, apparently, didn’t meet with King Charles or any other royal family members while there. It was later revealed that his father was just too busy to carve out the time, but some still believe it was Harry’s statements about his family supposedly colluding with the press which have truly “torpedoed any remaining bridges” with his family. As yet another source to the outlet noted:

Things are strained.

Royal fans have long hoped that the family can mend fences, but with it being increasingly clear that there are either a lot of issues for all involved to come to a compromise over or transgressions to forgive, it’s unlikely that a truce will come for them before or immediately after the coronation.

Adrienne Jones
Senior Content Creator

Covering The Witcher, Outlander, Virgin River, Sweet Magnolias and a slew of other streaming shows, Adrienne Jones is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend, and started in the fall of 2015. In addition to writing and editing stories on a variety of different topics, she also spends her work days trying to find new ways to write about the many romantic entanglements that fictional characters find themselves in on TV shows. She graduated from Mizzou with a degree in Photojournalism.