Oprah Winfrey has given her verdict on whether Prince Harry and Meghan Markle should attend the King’s Coronation on May 6. The Hollywood icon and friend of the Sussexes suggested it’s ultimately for the young couple to decide. Appearing on CBS Mornings, she said: “I think they should do what they feel is best for them and for their family. That’s what’s the bottom line it comes down to.”
A spokesperson for the Sussexes confirmed earlier this month that an “email” invite had been received by the Duke.
But the couple failed to confirm if they would be making an appearance at Westminster Abbey on May 6, sending the rumour mill into overdrive.
The Sussexes’s silence comes amid reports Harry is demanding an apology from his brother and father ahead of the Coronation.
The Prince’s relationship with his family has become strained following the release of his tell-all memoir, Spare, and the candid interviews he did to promote the book.
One of the most incendiary claims to come out of Harry’s autobiography Spare, released on January 10, is that his brother, Prince William, physically attacked him as their relationship frayed over the Duke’s marriage to Meghan.
Recounting a tense exchange at his London home in 2019, Harry says William called Meghan “difficult”, “rude” and “abrasive”, which Harry calls a “parrot[ing of] the press narrative” about his American wife.
The confrontation then turned physical, Harry writes, when William “grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and … knocked me to the floor”.
The Duke also makes a number of controversial claims about his stepmother and father’s wife, Queen Consort Camilla.
The WatchTVAbroad study, based on 2,000 respondents, revealed that men were generally less sympathetic to the Sussexes, with nearly a quarter (24 percent) viewing their appearance at the Coronation as a negative, compared with 18 percent of women.
Meanwhile 13 percent of men said they would definitely shun the TV broadcast if the couple were among the guests, with one in ten women agreeing (10 percent).
Perhaps out of loyalty for the current and previous Prince of Wales, viewers in Cardiff were the biggest critics of Harry and Meghan, with a third (33 percent) claiming their appearance would put them off witnessing the crowning of Charles, and 23 percent vowing to miss it altogether.
The over-55s were the most unforgiving age group when it came to the couple, with 15 percent refusing to watch the ceremony if they showed up and one in four (25 percent) seeing it as making them less likely to tune in.
Even among dedicated royal viewers, dislike for the duke and duchess had an impact upon some viewing plans, with one in twelve (eight percent) of those who’d watched all of the Queen’s funeral ceremony saying it would be enough to make them veto the Coronation.
