Prince Harry status’s as a royal outcast was ruthlessly emphasized at his father’s coronation Saturday, as he was seated in the third row with the disgraced Prince Andrew and his family in Westminster Abbey, and forced to walk alone down the aisle wearing civilian clothing.
When the rest of the royal family, including Queen Camilla’s grandchildren, appeared for their centerpiece appearance on Buckingham Palace’s balcony, Harry was absent.
The Sun reported Harry was en route to the airport as his father and brother and royal relations waved to the crowds, keen to get home to California where his son Prince Archie is celebrating his 4th birthday today.
The paper said that after the coronation ceremony Harry had gotten into a blacked-out electric BMW and driven the 20 miles to Heathrow, arriving by police convoy around 2.05pm local time. Harry was then escorted into the VIP Windsor Suite at Terminal 5, the paper reported.
Earlier, Harry had put on a brave face, grinning broadly and chatting to Jack Brooksbank before the ceremony began at Westminster Abbey.
Brooksbank is the husband of Princess Eugenie of York, and had given him an encouraging pat on the back as he made his way into the Abbey about twenty minutes before the event kicked off at 11am local time.
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Harry did not make eye contact with his father or brother, Prince William, who, sources have told The Daily Beast, “hates” his brother after he eviscerated him and Kate Middleton in his memoir, Spare.
Harry did not join the Coronation procession. After chatting to Eugenie, Prince Andrew’s daughter, outside the church, Harry got into a car, but his destination at that moment—airport or Buckingham Palace—was unknown.
On Saturday morning it was widely reported that Harry had been invited to a family lunch after the Coronation.
It must have all added up to the very strangest of days for Harry, who sat and watched as Camilla Parker Bowles, who he described as a “wicked stepmother” in his book, was crowned queen alongside her husband. Harry said in his book that he begged his father not to marry Camilla.
News of Harry’s humiliating seating position leaked out Saturday morning with a source telling the Sun: “There were discussions that the seating could be arranged on line of succession. But that would have put fifth-in-line Harry front and centre—and with William and Kate. Instead the decision was to work royals only at the front and work back from there.”
The hardline on Harry came after an attack, apparently sanctioned by the king, was launched on Harry by the king’s reputed best friend Nicholas Soames.
Harry’s very public humiliation came after he had flown into Britain’s Heathrow Airport Friday morning on a commercial flight—American Airlines flight AA136 from Los Angeles—and until the day of the Coronation itself it wasn’t clear what role, if any, he would have to play—and how he would be seated around, and interact with, his family.
His wife Meghan Markle stayed home in California with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. It is Archie’s birthday today, and Harry was widely reported to be spending a minimal amount of time at the Coronation before flying home to be with his own family.