The Duke and Duchess of Sussex may be met with a “cold shoulder” by senior members of the royal family if they do confirm their attendance at the coronation this spring.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle indicated that they have received “email correspondence” about King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla’s coronation on 6 May, but have not disclosed their decision about whether they will attend.
However, if they do make the journey from California to London for the ceremony, a source has suggested that their reception will be frosty.
It has been reported that some members of the family “do not want to socialise” with the couple after the release of Harry’s tell-all memoir Spare and their Netflix docuseries, Harry and Meghan.
A source close to the family told the Daily Mail: “They will be given the cold shoulder by very many relatives. One said to me, ‘I hope they’ll be seated in Iceland’.
“Many of the family just want nothing more to do with them. If they have to see them at the coronation then so be it, but they do not want to socialise with them.”
It comes as a separate report by The Telegraph suggested that Harry and Meghan’s children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet of Sussex, have not received their invitations to the coronation yet.
They were reportedly informed that the inclusion of Archie and Lilibet would be discussed if the couple confirm their own attendance. Staff at Buckingham Palace have been told to make preparations on the assumption that they will be present.
Harry, who recently appeared in a livestreamed interview with trauma expert and author Gabor Maté to talk about his book, opened up about the lack of physical affection he received as a child.
He wrote about the lack of hugs he received from members of the royal family in Spare, and previously said his father, the King, had “always given an air of not being quite ready for parenthood”.
The duke also said that one of his main criticisms of his father was that “too often your interests are sacrificed to his interests, certainly when it comes to the press”. Harry accused the royal family of “leaking” and “planting” certain negative stories about Meghan in order to distract the press and public away from unwanted attention on other royals.
He is understood to be seeking an “apology” from the King and the Prince of Wales before making any commitment to attend the coronation.
Last week, it emerged that the King asked Harry and Meghan to vacate their UK residence, Frogmore Cottage, and reportedly offered the keys to the disgraced Duke of York instead.
The move sparked further questions around whether the couple will attend the coronation. The ceremony also falls on the same day as Archie’s fourth birthday and it is unknown if the Sussexes will choose to stay home in California to celebrate it or fly the family to the UK.
It was reported that Charles offered the family a suite of rooms in Buckingham Palace that previously belonged to Prince Andrew, so that they have a place to stay if they travel to London.
The Independent has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment.
