King Charles has reportedly asked the Archbishop of Canterbury to negotiate a deal between his two warring sons so Prince Harry can attend his coronation.
Britain’s monarch has asked Justin Welby – who will officiate the coronation – for help to settle tensions between Prince William, 40, and Prince Harry, 38, ahead of the celebration in May, senior sources close to Lambeth Palace have told the Chron.
Insiders said Prince William wanted his younger brother and wife Meghan Markle away from Westminster Abbey after Prince Harry’s bombastic memoir Spare was released.
The heir to the throne reportedly fears the dramatically involved couple will overshadow King Charles’ monumental moment.
However, King Charles believes the pair’s absence will only cause more drama than their presence, insiders said – although he previously claimed he had “no appetite” to engage with Harry.
In exchange for their presence, the 74-year-old monarch is reportedly ready to offer them a high-profile seat at the abbey or an informal assurance that he can keep his titles, sources told the Mail.
King Charles reportedly wants Prince Harry to attend the coronation because he believes their absence would be distracting. Justin Tallis-AFP/POOL delivered
“The family is divided and all indications are that Harry will be advised not to agree to anything at this point and to ‘play his way long’ until the last minute, making negotiations with him very difficult,” the anonymous insider told the Outlet .
“Harry’s camp made it clear that the idea that he would just attend the coronation and behave but then be stripped of his titles was a total false start,” the source continued.
“Though he may eventually decide to discard his titles of his own accord, he rejects the idea of forcibly losing them.”
Harry “also resents being lumped in with Andrew” as the two are “problem princes,” according to the insider.
The Archbishop of Canterbury will complete the coronation in May.AP
The palace declined to comment, but a source close to Prince William said they were not aware of any such negotiations.
Harry and Markle didn’t say if they would attend the coronation, but if they did, they would only attend as guests.
Sources said last month that King Charles had completely barred the Duke of Sussex from the ceremony.
Prince William is reportedly reluctant to reconcile with his brother after the renegade king sensationally claimed in his memoir that the future king grabbed his collar and threw him to the ground during an argument about Markle.
Despite the release of the book and a documentary about the traditionally closed royal family, Prince Harry has said he wants to smooth things over with his brother and father.
“They have shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile,” the Duke of Sussex said.