Prince Harry’s true feelings towards his father, King Charles, were subtly revealed through a “telling gesture” at the Coronation, according to a royal observer. The historic event took place at Westminster Abbey, almost exactly a year after speculation began about whether Harry and his wife Meghan Markle would attend.
This followed the release of Harry’s controversial memoir, Spare, in which he criticised his royal relatives, including his father and stepmother, Queen Camilla.
Despite the controversy, Harry chose to attend the Coronation without Meghan, making a brief trip from his California home for the occasion. He arrived at the Abbey alongside Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice and their husbands, Jack Brooksbank and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, but was not seen interacting with either Charles or his estranged older brother, Prince William.
However, royal author Robert Hardman suggests that Harry made a significant gesture towards the King as he left the Abbey following his crowning.
In his book Charles III: New King, New Court, Hardman writes: “As the National Anthem reaches the end of the first verse, the King is alongside the royal pews where the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Edinburgh, both in the front row, plunge into floor-scraping curtseys. All the men bow, including the Duke of Sussex in row three. Indeed, tellingly, he drops his head for longer than most.”
Prince Harry is set to return to the UK next week without Meghan for a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games. The Service of Thanksgiving will take place at London’s St Paul’s Cathedral on Wednesday, May 8.
The Duke of Sussex is expected to deliver a reading at the event, which celebrates a decade since the inaugural Invictus Games in London in 2014. The games were founded as a sporting event for injured and sick military personnel and veterans.
This will be Harry’s first visit back to the UK since he visited King Charles following his cancer diagnosis in February, and it marks his first major event attendance in Britain for some time.
While there has been no confirmation of other royals attending, it has been confirmed that Meghan Markle will not accompany her husband. The service falls just two days after their son Archie’s fifth birthday on May 6. It’s been reported that King Charles will meet with his son while he is in the UK.
Following the London event, Harry and Meghan are set to travel to Nigeria, having been invited by the West African country’s chief of defence staff, who met the Duke at the Invictus Games Dusseldorf last September.
During their Nigerian visit, the couple will meet with service members and their families and participate in traditional cultural activities, according to Nigerian media. Further details about the visit have yet to be disclosed.
Defence Headquarters expressed their “honour” and “delight” as reported by local newspapers, following the acceptance of their invitation by Harry and Meghan, the latter has Nigerian roots. This will mark their inaugural visit to Nigeria as a couple.
