Prince Harry and Meghan Markle haven’t said whether or not they’re going to King Charles III’s coronation. However, the couple may want to for good “optics.” Commentators say by attending the ceremony, they will look like they’re “continuing to do their best on their end.”
There will be ‘a lot of questions’ if Harry and Meghan don’t go to the coronation
As awkward as it might be to attend the coronation in the aftermath of Spare, a PR expert says the “optics” would be better if the Duke and Duchess of Sussex go.
“I think that if they attended the coronation, it would be a way for them to maybe continue any healing that they’re hoping to have,” royal watcher Kristen Meinzer said (via Insider).
The “main benefit,” she explained, is “the optics of looking like they will be continuing to do their best on their end.” That is, “even if the royal family is not always doing the best on their end for them.”
“If they choose not to go, I think they know the world will be watching. And there’ll be a lot of questions about why they’re not there,” Meinzer added.
Meanwhile, Eric Schiffer, chairman of Reputation Management Consultants, believes the coronation is a chance for Harry and Meghan to remind people of their royal connection. The pair stepped back as senior royals in 2020 and have lived in California ever since.
Additionally, going to the coronation would be a reminder “that the pain that Harry has shared from his past didn’t preclude him from participation.”
Inviting Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to the coronation shows King Charles’ ‘maturity’
Extending an invite to his youngest son and his wife was, per the commentators, a wise move for King Charles.
It made the 74-year-old look like he “is working to bring the family together” Schiffer said. Not only that but it also showed “that he’s not going to allow what he may see as poor choices by his son to stop what could be a beautiful coronation.”
“This shows a lot of maturity by the king,” the PR expert added. “And it’s consistent with what a good father would do.”
And, as Meinzer noted, the king likely wants his family there with him.
“He only has two sons,” Meinzer said, calling the coronation “probably the most important day of your professional life if you’re Charles.”
“He’s been waiting for this his whole life,” she continued. “Even though he technically already is king, the ceremony is the be-all, end-all of it. It’s the moment where the world is looking on, where the pomp and circumstance, where the tradition plays out.”
The coronation could be the start of a ‘new chapter’ for Harry, Meghan, and the royal family
New monarch, new chapter? Schiffer believes the coronation has the potential to be a fresh start for the royal family, Harry and Meghan included.
“I think this could be an interesting inflection point of healing and resolution of past pain,” he said. In a possible “new chapter,” the royals “could work” toward “building a new relationship between the family.”
After all, he pointed out, “the coronation highlights someone who has worked to try, despite Spare and other background noise, to bring the family together in a careful way.”
The coronation ceremony is on May 6, 2023, at Westminster Abbey in London, England.
