Meghan Markle has come under intense scrutiny for her decision to snub the King's Coronation on May 6.
The Duchess of Sussex has decided to stay in California to celebrate her son Archie's fourth birthday while Prince Harry attends the event in the UK, despite the fact the couple could have hosted celebrations at the Frogmore Cottage, where Princess Lilibet enjoyed her first birthday party.
However, according to a palace insider Charles has been kept in the loop of Archie and Lilibet’s lives, with the Sussexes keen for their children to have a close bond with their grandfather, similar to when the Sussexes confirmed they video chatted Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip, reports Page Six.
In an interview in 2021, Harry said: "Both my grandparents do Zoom.
"They’ve seen Archie running around.”
Insiders have revealed there is a definite thawing between Charles and Harry, with one source adding: “There is now, more than ever, a willingness to try and have a relationship.”
And whilst over the years, The 41-year-old has been slammed for stirring up drama, the source familiar with the Sussexes said that’s not the case: “Meghan doesn’t want any more rifts. She wants her children to know their grandfather, Charles, particularly when they are not going to know their other grandfather.
“She does hope they will meet and hopes her decision will be seen as an unselfish one, as it was best to keep the attention on His Majesty.”
The Sussex source also claimed that the former actress made the decision to skip the Coronation in hope that it would prevent drama.
“She just really doesn’t want a song and dance and everything being lived out in the public eye,” the source said.
It was confirmed Prince Harry would attend the Coronation following a lengthy process that spanned weeks.
In the end, the Duchess believed it would be “inauthentic” for her to attend given all the past drama.
In his memoir Spare, Harry claimed that Charles did not even embrace him following the tragic death of Princess Diana in August 1997.
“Pa didn’t hug me. He wasn’t great at showing emotions under normal circumstances, how could he be expected to show them in such a crisis?” he wrote, also claiming that Charles made “sadistic” jibes about Prince Harry’s “real” father.
Harry grew up amid hurtful and public speculation that his true father was Princess Diana’s former lover Major James Hewitt.
However, Charles gave a shout-out to both his sons on Friday while addressing cadets at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst for the 200th Sovereign’s Parade.
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