Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have officially made a decision about whether to attend King Charles’ coronation on May 6.
Buckingham Palace announced on Wednesday that the Duke of Sussex is set to attend the coronation next month to support his father, while the Duchess of Sussex will not be making the trip across the pond.
“Buckingham Palace is pleased to confirm that The Duke of Sussex will attend the Coronation Service at Westminster Abbey on May 6th,” the palace announced. “The Duchess of Sussex will remain in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.”
An Archewell spokesperson shared a nearly identical statement with HuffPost shortly after the palace’s release.”
The Sunday Times reported in early March that the monarch had been in touch with his son about the big day, which will fall on the birthday of Prince Archie, Harry’s and Meghan’s son.
“I can confirm The Duke has recently received email correspondence from His Majesty’s office regarding the coronation,” an Archewell spokesperson told HuffPost at the time, in a statement first shared by the Times.
Charles officially became king when Queen Elizabeth died on September 8, at Balmoral. It is tradition to wait several months after the death of the previous monarch for an official coronation ceremony out of respect for the deceased.
In the months leading up to the coronation, there has been intense speculation over whether or not the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would attend the May ceremony and subsequent events, especially after the release of the couple’s long-awaited Netflix docuseries in December and Harry’s explosive memoir, “Spare,” in January.
Though the couple is not attending the coronation together, they have made a similar arrangement in the past. Harry attended Prince Philip’s funeral solo in April 2021, while Meghan was pregnant with the couple’s second child, Princess Lili. The duchess did not get medical clearance to travel for the funeral at the time.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were both able to attend events for the late queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations last year, and later traveled back for the sovereign’s funeral in September 2022.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.