Global Courant 2023-05-06 18:39:58
Andy Stenning/Pool via REUTERS
Prince Harry’s status as one royal outcast was relentlessly stressed at his father’s coronation Saturday, when he sat in the third row with the disgraced Prince Andrew and his family at Westminster Abbey, and was forced to walk alone down the aisle in civilian clothes.
When the rest of the royal family, including Queen Camilla’s grandchildren, appeared for their showpiece on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, Harry was absent. The Sun reported Harry was on his way to the airport as his father and brother and royals waved to the crowd, eager to head home to California, where his son Prince Archie is celebrating his 4th birthday today.
The newspaper said that after the coronation ceremony, Harry got into a darkened electric BMW and drove the 20 miles to Heathrow, arriving in a police convoy at around 2:05 pm local time. Harry was then escorted to the VIP Windsor Suite in Terminal 5, the newspaper reported.
Prince Harry brings all the drama to King Charles’ coronation
Earlier, Harry had put on a brave face, grinning broadly and talking to Jack Brooksbank before the ceremony at Westminster Abbey began. Brooksbank is the husband of Princess Eugenie of York and had given him an encouraging pat on the back as he entered the abbey about 20 minutes before the event kicked off at 11am local time.
Harry didn’t make eye contact with his father or brother, Prince William, who, sources have told The Daily Beast, “hate” his brother after stripping him and Kate Middleton in his memoir, Spare.
Harry did not join the coronation procession. After talking to Eugenie, Prince Andrew’s daughter, outside the church, Harry got into a car, but his destination at the time – the airport or Buckingham Palace – was unknown. It was widely reported on Saturday morning that Harry had been invited to a family lunch after the coronation.
It must have all been the strangest of days for Harry, watching Camilla Parker Bowles, whom he described in his book as an “evil stepmother,” be crowned queen with her husband. Harry said in his book that he begged his father not to marry Camilla.
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News of Harry’s humiliating sitting position leaked Saturday morning with a source telling Sun: “There were discussions that the seats could be arranged in line of succession. But then Harry, fifth in line, would move into first place – and next to William and Kate. Instead, the decision was to let royals only work up front and work back from there.
The hard line against Harry came after an attack, apparently sanctioned by the King, was launched on Harry by the King’s famed best friend, Nicholas Soames.
Soames told Times Radio during a 30-minute interview in which he praised the King: “With regard to Prince Harry, I think it’s just the most tragic thing. I mean, I can’t put myself in the position that my own son, as he would do something like that to me, it would just be the cruelest… and you would mind.
Prince Harry is among the guests at the coronation of Britain’s King Charles and Queen Camilla at Westminster Abbey, London, Britannia, May 6, 2023.
RICHARD POHLE/Pool via REUTERS
Harry’s very public humiliation came after he was flown into Britain’s Heathrow Airport on a commercial flight Friday morning – American Airlines flight AA136 from Los Angeles – and it wasn’t clear until the day of the coronation itself what role he might have played. to play – and how he would sit around and interact with his family.
His wife Meghan Markle stayed home in California with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. Today is Archie’s birthday and it was widely reported that Harry spent a minimal amount of time at the coronation before flying home to be with his own family.
Harry Reportedly spent Friday night at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor, his and Meghan’s British home from which they are evicted by King Charles.
According to his sympathetic biographer Omid ScobieHarry has had “minimal contact” with his brother, William, since Queen Elizabeth’s funeral, but there is a “pattern” of regular conversations between Harry and KarelScobie – who has occasionally acted as a de facto spokesperson for Harry and Meghan Markle – told ITVs This morning show Wednesday.
Scobie also said that Harry always intended to recover the coronation but wasn’t sure if he would be invited. Obviously, this is the first time he’s seen his family in person since the release of (Harry’s memoir) Reserve. But I don’t think people know that there’s been a somewhat regular pattern of conversation between him and his father since the release of that book,” Scobie said.
Britain’s Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex watches as Britain’s King Charles III leaves Westminster Abbey after the coronation ceremony in central London on May 6, 2023.
BEN STANSALL/Pool via REUTERS
Scobie said Harry had spoken to his father about his and Meghan’s impending eviction from Frogmore Cottage, saying: “They lose the keys to that every week now, and he would have spoken to his father about that.”
Scobie dismissed claims that Meghan had decided not to attend the coronation because it was on the same day as son Archie’s birthday, saying she was instead motivated by a desire not to overshadow the proceedings.
said Scobie This morning: “She is aware of how much of the spotlight is on her whenever she even sets foot near the story. It is portrayed as intentional. If she would come over and just stand next to her husband, the commentary and story of the day would have been very different… If you look back at some of Harry and Meghan’s biggest problems, it was all thanks to to the fact that attention was always with them at times when it shouldn’t have been.
Scobie added that the Sussexes “had to wait some time to really get confirmation on whether they were 100 per cent welcome at this event” but said that “for Harry there was certainly no doubt about (attendance). In the end he’s fifth in line for the throne. He is a Councilor of State. There is a serious constitutional reason for him to be here, and he takes it seriously, even though he is not a working member of the royal family.”
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