On May 6, 2023, anticipation reached a fever pitch as the world watched for Prince Harry’s arrival at the grand coronation of King Charles, held at the iconic Westminster Abbey in London.

It had been a significant period of over 1,000 days since the Duke of Sussex and his wife, Meghan Markle, the former star of the TV series “Suits,” had stepped back from their roles as working royals and made the move to the United States with their family.

Prince Harry’s journey back to the UK for this landmark occasion was his first public appearance with the Royal Family since the funeral of the late Queen. It also marked his first reunion with them following the release of his explosive memoir, “Spare.”

As Harry made his way into the abbey alongside Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, an awkward smile played across his face. His presence at the coronation had been uncertain, especially after the initial RSVP deadline of April 3 passed without a word on whether the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would attend.

It wasn’t until nine days later that Buckingham Palace confirmed Harry’s attendance, stating that the Duchess of Sussex would stay in California with their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

During the ceremony, Harry, adorned with medals on his suit jacket, found himself seated in the third row—a contrast to his brother Prince William and sister-in-law Princess Catherine, who played central roles in the proceedings. As fifth in line to the throne, Harry’s position underscored the shifting dynamics within the royal family.

But as the Coronation got under way, eagle-eyed viewers watching the ceremony on the TV couldn’t help but notice that a feather on Princess Anne’s headpiece was almost entirely obscuring Harry’s view.

As King Charles’s Coronation got under way on May 6, 2023, it looked as though a feather on Princess Anne’s headpiece was almost entirely obscuring Harry’s view. At the time, many speculated whether the positioning of the feather was deliberate

The Prince’s decision to fly back across the pond to support his father at the historic event marked the first time he had been pictured with the Royal Family since the late Queen’s funeral, and also since the release of his bombshell memoir, Spare

At the time, many were quick to speculate whether the positioning of the feather, almost directly in front of her nephew, had been a deliberate move intended to ‘punish’ Harry following his exit from the Firm. 

However, in Robert Hardman’s book, Charles III: New King, New Court: The Inside Story, the details behind Harry’s seeming Coronation humiliation were finally revealed. 

Putting a firm stop to any speculation by ‘social media snipers’ that the Duke’s view was deliberately obscured by Princess Anne’s ‘striking red-plumed bicorn hat’, royal expert Mr Hardman said: ‘It is nonsense.’

In fact, according to the royal expert, the main reason the Princess Royal had been placed in that very seat was that she had issued a ‘request for a speed exit’. 

It was also revealed that Princess Anne herself had questioned whether the hat was appropriate to wear during the ceremony, but had received assurance that it was not a matter of concern.

‘The hat was an interesting question,’ the Princess recalled later. ‘I said: “Are you sure you want me to keep the hat on? Because it’s quite a decent-sized hat.” And the answer was yes. There you go. Not my choice.’

A Palace official was said to have added that ‘the Princess was expected to keep her hat on because royal ladies do not remove hats in church, even in uniform’. 

Harry and his aunt had a brief interaction ahead of the Coronation as Princess Anne, dressed in her Blues and Royals uniform beneath the dark green Order of the Thistle mantle, stopped to chat to Harry as she made her way to the front of the abbey. 

Prince Harry appeared to chat happily to Princess Anne at the Coronation

However, in Robert Hardman’s book, Charles III: The Inside Story, the true story behind Harry’s seeming Coronation humiliation was finally revealed. Mr Hardman described such speculation by ‘social media snipers’ ‘nonsense’

While most senior royals ignored the Prince, Anne appeared to ask Harry if he was OK in his seat. Would he be able to see beyond her high feathered cap?

In what looked to be a good-humoured exchange, lip-reading experts reportedly revealed he told her ‘I don’t mind’, before saying ‘Sit at the front!’

Prior to the start of the Coronation, there seemed to be a clear signs that Harry’s choice to leave the Royal Family had resulted in ‘protocol and precedence’ being ‘tweaked’.

As Mr Hardman explains: ‘Normally, members of the family arrive at these events according to their place in the line of succession, with those furthest from the throne arriving first.’

However, as a result of ‘Megxit’, Harry  arrived ‘well before those, like the Gloucesters, who are a long way behind him in the pecking order’. 

Likewise, the Duke of York, who had stepped down from official royal duties in 2019 amid the furore regarding his friendship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, was also required to arrive ‘well before the younger siblings whom he used to outrank’.

While both withdrew from royal duties under starkly different circumstances, it was striking that both Prince Harry and Prince Andrew had been placed together in the third row. 

Harry was also unable to wear military dress to the Coronation as this is a privilege reserved for working members of the family. As a result, he donned a sleek three-piece morning suit and wore an assortment of medals on his chest.

Due to the Princess Royal’s slightly awkward headpiece, much of Harry’s reaction to the ceremony was hard to decipher, though he appeared to bow his head as the new King walked past him on his way out of the abbey.

The Duke of York joined Prince Harry in the third row of the abbey during the Coronation, and was required to arrive ‘well before the younger siblings whom he used to outrank’, wrote Robert Hardman

However, an expert lip reader’s analysis of his interaction with Eugenie’s husband Jack Brooksbank, a marketing executive, revealed some of his true feelings that day.

A grim-faced Harry was alleged by Jeremy Freeman to have said: ‘I’m fed up with the way they treat me.’

‘It’s not an ideal situation,’ the Duke added. To which Mr Brooksbank apparently replied: ‘It’s not the quiet life, is it?’

Mr Freeman told The Sun that while this moment does not appear on film, Harry then shook his head and seemingly said: ‘They don’t care.’

‘I haven’t time for that,’ Mr Brooksbank allegedly replied. ‘Not if it’s over…’

‘It’s an eventuality,’ Harry interrupted.

While it is not clear exactly what the pair were discussing, many royal fans theorise it was about Harry’s strained relationship with his immediate family.

Once the Coronation was over, the King’s son slipped out of the venue with only the briefest of goodbyes and headed straight for Heathrow Airport in a blacked-out electric BMW.

While the newly crowned King and Queen were joined on the balcony by an array of familiar faces including Prince William, Princess Catherine and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, Prince Harry was nowhere to be seen. 

A well-placed source told the Daily Mail’s Royal Editor Rebecca English that the King had been left ‘genuinely quite disappointed’ that Harry did not stay after the Coronation. Rebecca later wrote that the King had raised a glass to toast Archie’s birthday at a family lunch following the ceremony

After spending just 28 hours and 42 minutes in the UK, he had boarded a plane back to California before his father and stepmother, Queen Camilla, had even finished having their official portraits taken.

It is believed the Duke was eager to get back to his £11 million Montecito mansion to celebrate his son Archie’s fourth birthday. 

Meghan’s absence from the festivities was believed to have been due to the so-called ‘Coronation clash’ with Archie’s ‘low-key’ birthday, though cynics suggested that she may have harboured fears of a negative response from the British public.

A source told the Daily Mail that Meghan ‘stayed home to celebrate Archie’s birthday because she felt it would be inauthentic to do anything else’. The source added: ‘She wanted to minimise the drama.’ 

Meanwhile, another well-placed source told the Daily Mail’s Royal Editor Rebecca English at the time that the King had been left ‘genuinely quite disappointed’ that Harry did not stay.

Rebecca later wrote that the King had raised a glass to toast Archie’s birthday at a family lunch after the Coronation – a tribute to the grandson he has barely seen. 

After just 28 hours and 42 minutes in the UK, Prince Harry boarded a plane back to California before his father and stepmother, Queen Camilla, had even finished having their official portraits taken (pictured)

The royal reception opened with an adoring speech from Prince William, who congratulated his father for getting through the historic day.

Charles then thanked everyone, and raised a glass to his grandchildren Prince George – who also served as a Page of Honour – alongside Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

But the new King also raised a toast to ‘those that weren’t there’, before wishing his grandson Archie a very happy birthday ‘wherever he was’.

Following Meghan and Harry’s withdrawal from royal duties, the King is understood to have only met his estranged granddaughter Lilibet once, during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June 2022. 

Royal sources at the time said that the meeting was ‘very emotional’, but that Charles and Camilla were ‘absolutely thrilled’ to have spent some time with both Archie and Lilibet.

However, despite the King’s cancer diagnosis and Harry’s suggestion that his father’s health battle could lead to a reconciliation, a reunion between grandfather and grandchildren looks ever more unlikely.