Meghan Markle spotted hiking after skipping King Charles III’s coronation

The Duchess of Sussex turned down her invitation to attend the historical event in Westminster Abbey over the weekend and chose to stay at home in California with her two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet instead, the Mirror reports.

Harry was forced to attend the Coronation alone but immediately left for Heathrow airport after it finished so he could be back in the US to celebrate Archie’s fourth birthday. “As much as Meghan appreciates the invite to the coronation, she wouldn’t miss her son’s birthday for the world,” an insider told Us Weekly in April. “Despite being the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan is a mom first.”

The Duke of Sussex, meanwhile, kept his visit to the U.K. short. The Invictus Games founder arrived in London on Friday, May 5, and left soon after the ceremony concluded on Saturday, taking commercial flights in and out of Heathrow airport.

Harry did not have an official role in the coronation after he and Meghan stepped down as senior working royals in 2020. The BetterUp CIO arrived at Westminster Abbey on Saturday with his cousins Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie and their respective husbands, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi and Jack Brooksbank.

When the group filed up the aisle to take their seats, Harry walked alone behind Eugenie, 33, and Brooksbank, 37. He ultimately sat in the third row behind his brother, Prince William, and his aunt Princess Anne. Because Harry was stripped of his honorary military titles after he stepped down, he wore a morning suit for the ceremony rather than his military uniform.

The former military pilot and his brother, 40, seemingly didn’t interact at all during the event, in part because of their differing roles. William, seated in the front row, presented his father with the Stole Royal and Robe Royal during the ceremony and later paid homage to the king by kneeling before him.

After the service concluded, the Prince of Wales was part of the procession from Westminster Abbey back to Buckingham Palace, where he stood on the balcony with Charles, Queen Camilla, Princess Kate and other members of the royal family.

Harry, meanwhile, was not part of the procession, and he did not make a balcony appearance with his family. Us confirmed that he headed back to the U.S. after the ceremony so he could make it home to celebrate Archie’s birthday.

Ahead of the coronation, royal expert Nick Bullen exclusively told Us that Harry was planning to “minimize the amount of time that he’s in London.” The duke, Bullen explained, was likely “nervous” to see his family after the January publication of his memoir, Spare, and the December 2022 release of the docuseries Harry & Meghan.

“I suppose what he has in his favour is there’ll be very little opportunity for any of them to really speak, because they’ll all be coming from different places,” the True Royalty TV editor-in-chief added of the coronation. “The operations of the day will actually help everybody out, that we don’t need to have moments where they’re seen chatting to each other. They will all be positioned very separately.”

A source told the Mail on Sunday that Meghan wanted to stay at home to celebrate her son’s birthday as she felt it would be “inauthentic” for her to choose to do anything else. The source said: “She wanted to minimise the drama.”

The family friend insider also revealed she made a special lemon cake for Archie using fruit from their garden. Some reports hint that Harry and Charles were in contact before the big day in an attempt to clear the air before meeting face to face again.

The monarch is also said to be “understanding” of Meghan’s absence at the historical ceremony as the mum-of-two held a “low-key” birthday party for Archie and it’s believed Harry was able to make it home in time to join in on the celebrations.

It’s been speculated that Harry was speaking about his wife during a conversation with Princess Eugenie’s husband, Jack Brooksbank. The Duke was placed beside his cousin’s spouse and Princess Alexandra, the cousin of the late Queen during the ceremony.

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