Meghan Markle’s Opting Out of the Coronation May Signal She’ll Never Attend a Royal Event Again, Expert Says

Even if you are the most casual of royal family followers, there’s no way you missed this: While Prince Harry will be in attendance at his father King Charles’ Coronation on May 6, Meghan Markle will not, opting to stay behind in California with the couple’s two children Prince Archie (who coincidentally turns four on the day of the Coronation) and Princess Lilibet.

With this decision, says royal expert Robert Jobson, Meghan is likely to never attend a royal event again.

Speaking to The Sun, Jobson says “It is good news that Harry has accepted the invite and will be there to support his father. It is the most pragmatic move in a difficult situation and Harry has got it right. He would deeply regret it if he didn’t attend the biggest day of his father’s life. But the fact his wife is not attending means it is now highly unlikely we will ever see her attend an official or Palace event again—apart from maybe the King’s funeral.”

Since stepping back as working members of the royal family in 2020 and relocating from the U.K. to the U.S., Meghan attended the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June 2022 and her funeral that September—but that’s it. A friend of the Sussexes tells The Telegraph that Meghan considers her future to be in the U.S., and that when it came to the Coronation, she didn’t want her presence to risk “overshadowing the event.”

The report also added that Harry and Meghan were “concerned” about their reception from the British public. Royal expert Ingrid Seward tells The Mirror that “However pathetic when you have a team of helpers, Meghan can still use the excuse of Archie’s fourth birthday to avoid crossing the Atlantic to be ridiculed, by both the royal family and the Brits. Why should she bother? For a girl who makes a huge fuss about which table she has in a restaurant, it would be a terrible insult not to have one of the top seats at the Coronation ceremony.”

Harry (and Meghan, had she attended) were also not going to be allowed on the Buckingham Palace balcony after the ceremony, which Seward says would have caused Meghan embarrassment.

“To add to this possibility the disgrace being excluded from the Buckingham Palace balcony lineup was more than she could bear,” Seward says. “Now Meghan can play the martyr if she pleased. Certainly, the rest of Harry’s family, especially Kate and William, will be delighted she is not there. King Charles and Queen Camilla will also be mighty relieved.”

Seward says she believes Meghan wanted Harry to attend the Coronation, as it would appear a “terrible snub” if he didn’t.

“Harry’s decision to come to the Coronation without Meghan won’t have been easy,” she says. “Harry and Meghan are an emotional unit. He lacks confidence without her and is more suspicious when she is not at his side. Harry needed to and he wanted to come to the Coronation. The invitation clearly says, ‘By Command of the King.’ Harry was in the military and his allegiance is to the King. The King also happens to be his father. For all his bravado, Harry knows that if he didn’t appear, it would be a terrible snub. He might have been cut off forever and brand Sussex couldn’t afford to lose the royal fairy dust.”

She continued “I suspect Meghan was the driving force in persuading Harry to attend. She is smarter than him and would have realized it might mean the end of their future dreams if he didn’t appear.”