Prince Harry confirmed yesterday that he will attend the Coronation alone, with his wife Meghan Markle staying behind in California to look after their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. It means the Palace are finally able to finalise the Coronation plans, and an insider has revealed that much of the focus is on ensuring there are no awkward encounters between Harry and his older brother Prince William.
Harry’s arrival at Westminster Abbey will be meticulously crafted down to the exact minute to avoid any form of confrontation with members of the Royal Family who will never forgive him for what he has done.
The Prince of Wales is at the front of the list, with his fury at his younger brother being one of the worst-kept royal secrets.
The Duke will be seated several rows behind the senior royals and at a position to ensure that there can be no direct shot of William and Harry together – to ensure no sideways glances or furious stares are broadcast on the world stage.
He is likely to be sat with the more amiable members of the Royal Family, such as sisters Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice, some of the few members to have stayed in touch with the Sussexes throughout their spate of public attacks.
The royals are planning on giving Harry the cold shoulder at the Coronation and have no interest in speaking to him apart from exchanging pleasantries.
Even his brother has no plans to speak to him, with insiders pointing out William hasn’t spoken to his brother for some time and is still raging over Harry’s repeated public attacks against his family.
In his memoir, William came off poorly, with Harry alleging that his brother once physically attacked him during an argument about Meghan and was especially cold to his brother when Harry started at Eton.
Details of their relationship breakdown were also centre stage, with Harry detailing a 72-hour row the pair had over text in October 2019.
READ MORE: Meghan Markle’s time in Royal Family is over – there’s no path back
He is also seething at the comments on other members of the family, particularly his wife Kate as her infamous row with Meghan was brought to the fore yet again in stunning detail.
Other contentious topics include Harry’s decision to brand their stepmother Camilla as “dangerous”, Charles as uncaring and cold and claims that royals were in cahoots with the press and deliberately leaked negative stories about the Sussexes.
William, and other senior members of the Royal Family, are unlikely to forge any meaningful relationship with Harry or Meghan again as they firmly believe there is no way back after their Netflix series, Harry’s memoir and promotional interviews.
Insiders believe the couple are unlikely to return for any future royal events such as anniversaries, Trooping the Colour and to celebrate key holidays such as Christmas and Easter.
Communications across the pond are also likely to be few and far between as apart from the King and the York sisters, much of the Royal Family do not want to forgive, they just want to forget.
A Whitehall source previously told the Express that Coronation planners will follow the blueprint of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, where any awkward encounters were avoided.
Harry’s arrival at the Abbey is set to mirror that of the service at St Paul’s Cathedral last June, where the couple arrived in a private car alone, and sat on the opposite side of the aisle to the Prince and Princess of Wales.
This seating plan at the event is said to have been crafted by the late Queen to ensure working members of the Royal Family were given precedence. It saw Harry and Meghan seated in the second row next to those lower down in the line of succession, such as Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice.
They were seated behind the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh and their children.
William and Kate sat with Charles and Camilla some way away, ensuring they weren’t captured in any of the same shots to avoid speculation over their relationship overshadowing the event.
Their departure from St Paul’s was also planned to the minute detail, with Harry and Meghan leaving alongside Mike and Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips.
Pictures showed the couples chatting away as they stood outside the steps of the London cathedral.
