Prince Harry won't be "anywhere near" the balcony on coronation day

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge watch a flypast to mark the centenary of the Royal Air Force from the balcony of Buckingham Palace on July 10, 2018 in London, England. The 100th birthday of the RAF, which was founded on on 1 April 1918, was marked with a centenary parade with the presentation of a new Queen's Colour and flypast of 100 aircraft over Buckingham Palace.

(Image credit: Photo by Max Mumby / Indigo / Getty)

published 13 April 2023

After much back and forth, Prince Harry has officially confirmed he will be attending King Charles' coronation, while Meghan Markle stays in Southern California with their children.

This comes after reports came out that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex allegedly had "demands" for the coronation in order to attend, including that they be included on the Buckingham Palace balcony.

However, it's now looking like only working royals will be included — which excludes Harry, who stepped down from his official role in early 2020.

Historian Tessa Dunlop has commented on the situation, telling OK!, "if you have Harry (on the balcony) then they would have to have everyone else."

For Tessa, Harry "won’t be anywhere near the balcony."

You can expect to see the King, the Queen, Prince William, Princess Kate, Prince Edward and Sophie, for example. Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis will also most likely be included, while Princess Anne "will be there presumably," Tessa said, adding that "she’ll have quite a big role and be upfront."

The historian continued: "But I don't think you'll have too many people because I think the whole point is about this slimmed down family.

"It will be just the working royals certainly."

While Prince Harry is son of the King and fifth in line to the throne, he no longer has an official role in the Royal Family, which means that including him on the balcony could be seen in a negative light.

Additionally, the Sussexes' relationship with the rest of the royals has sadly been deteriorating ever since they swapped the UK for California. This has become even more pronounced following the release of Harry's memoir Spare, which contains many shocking revelations about the royals, and particularly about King Charles, Prince William and Princess Kate.

For this reason, Harry is likely to take on a subdued role at the coronation, to ensure the spotlight remains on the King and Queen.

Iris Goldsztajn is a celebrity and royal news writer for Marie Claire. As a London-based freelance journalist, she writes about wellness, relationships, pop culture, beauty and more for the likes of InStyle, Women's Health, Bustle, Stylist and Red. Aside from her quasi-personal investment in celebs' comings and goings, Iris is especially interested in debunking diet culture and destigmatising mental health struggles. Previously, she was the associate editor for Her Campus, where she oversaw the style and beauty news sections, as well as producing gift guides, personal essays and celebrity interviews. There, she worked remotely from Los Angeles, after returning from a three-month stint as an editorial intern for Cosmopolitan.com in New York. As an undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles, she interned at goop and C California Style and served as Her Campus' national style and LGBTQ+ editor. Iris was born and raised in France by a French father and an English mother. Her Spotify Wrapped is riddled with country music and One Direction, and she can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.

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