For the best? Meghan Markle will not travel to the U.K. with Prince Harry for King Charles III’s coronation — and royal expert Nick Bullen believes the Duchess of Sussex made the right decision.
“I think Meghan not attending is a huge relief for everybody involved,” the editor-in-chief of True Royalty TV tells Us Weekly. “She knows that if she turns up, the story will become about her. All cameras will be trained on her to see, you know, ‘How does she look? Is there a nervousness in her eyes?’ All those things.”
Bullen notes that attendees would’ve been focused on how Meghan, 41, interacts with members of Harry’s family, including Prince William and Princess Kate, if she was at the May 6 event.
“Then [there would be] shots of, ‘Does she give side eye to Kate or does Kate give side eye to her?’ Everything will be about, ‘What was the relationship with Meghan being there?’ We’ll get some of that with Harry, but it would be even bigger if Meghan had been there,” he continues. “So if you are being positive about Meghan, she’s done the right thing by not making herself the story.”
Meghan Markle Stephen Lock/Pool/Shutterstock
Us confirmed in March that Charles, 74, had extended the invitation to Meghan and Harry, 38. Earlier this month, the palace announced that the prince would travel solo as Meghan celebrates their son Archie’s 4th birthday — which falls on the same day.
“As much as Meghan appreciates the invite to the coronation, she wouldn’t miss her son’s birthday for the world,” a source told Us. “Despite being the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan is a mom first. She feels very grateful to be included in such a special occasion by the royal family and is glad that Harry can go and show support on behalf of their family. But being the same day as Archie’s birthday, unfortunately, she’s just going to have to miss out on this one.”
According to Bullen, the couple, who also share daughter Lilibet, 22 months, are “struggling” with their next steps after their Netflix series and Harry’s memoir, Spare, detailed their issues with The Firm.
“I think there’s an awful lot of questions in that Sussex camp about what’s the next play,” he says.
Meghan was last in the U.K. for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in September 2022. The reunion with Charles, William, Kate and more members of the royal family came more than two years after the Suits alum and Harry announced their plans to step back from their senior royal duties in January 2020. They completed their final engagement that March and relocated to California.
Bullen, meanwhile, tells Us that he thinks Harry — who didn’t see his dad or brother when he was in the U.K. for the trial against publishing company Associated Newspapers Limited in March — is on edge about making the trip.
“I think he’ll be nervous about how the family [will] react to him, and I think it’s pretty clear that he’s gonna minimize the amount of time that he’s in London. He’s already said that he wants to be back for Archie’s birthday that afternoon, that evening,” Bullen explains of Harry’s upcoming interactions with his family following the release of his tell-all book. “It will be very much of a fly-in visit. Harry isn’t part of the procession or the balcony appearance.”
