KING TO WELBY: I WANT HARRY AT CORONATION

● Archbishop asked to help resolve crisis ● Duke keeping titles could be part of deal ● But William ‘resisting pact’

THE King has asked the Archbishop of Canterbury to broker a deal to allow Harry to attend his Coronation – but has met resistance from William, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Charles wants Justin Welby to strike an agreement with his warring sons that would allow Harry and his wife Meghan to attend the Westminster Abbey ceremony in May, senior sources close to Lambeth Palace say.

Speculation has been rife about whether the Sussexes would attend the high-profile event since they stepped away from Royal duties – and especially since the publication of Harry’s tell-all memoirs, Spare, earlier this month, that contained a string of wounding attacks on senior members of the Royal Family.

The King is said to believe that the couple’s absence would be a greater distraction than their presence, so is prepared to make concessions to persuade them to attend. But William is understood to be concerned that his brother will use the event to stage a ‘stunt’ that would overshadow the event.

Sources say Harry could be guaranteed a high-profile seating position in the Abbey or an informal assurance that he will be able to

keep his titles as an inducement to attend. However, William fears that unless Harry’s visit is tightly scripted, he could steal the limelight by, for example, going on a walkabout in a deprived London borough with Meghan.

One source said: ‘The issue of substance is whether they attend the Coronation, and if they do, under what terms and conditions.

‘The family is split, and all the indications are that Harry is being advised to agree to nothing at this stage and “play it long” right up to the last minute, which is making negotiations with him very difficult.

‘Harry’s camp made clear that the idea that he would just attend the Coronation and behave himself but then be stripped of his titles was a total non-starter. While he might decide at some point to discard his titles of his own volition, he objects to the idea of being forcibly stripped of them. He resents being lumped together with Andrew in the public mind as the two “problem Princes”, when he considers the circumstances to be totally different.’

Last night, both Lambeth Palace and Buckingham Palace declined to comment, while a source close to Prince William said they were not aware of any such negotiations over the Coronation. Harry’s representatives did not respond to a request for comment.

Mr Welby, who will officiate at the ceremony at Westminster Abbey, was first asked to act as an intermediary between William and Harry shortly after the Queen’s death in September.

He has previously been dragged into the soap opera surrounding the Sussexes when Meghan claimed in a TV interview that he had secretly married them before their official wedding in 2018 – forcing him to clarify that the ceremony broadcast to the world was the legal marriage. He was also forced to pull out of the Church’s General Synod in July 2019 in order to baptise the couple’s son, Archie.

Despite the King’s dignified silence about the allegations aired in Spare, Royal insiders say he was

‘It seems that Harry is not agreeing to anything yet’

‘livid’ about his son’s attacks on the Queen Consort Camilla, calling her ‘dangerous’ and a ‘villain’ in TV interviews to promote his book. The Duke said: ‘She was the villain, a third person in the marriage, she needed to rehabilitate her image.’

Harry also accused William of physically attacking him and claimed the Palace planted negative stories about Meghan in the media. Harry has called for a reconciliation with his family, but only if they apologise to him.

A poll last week found that twothirds of the public think Harry should be invited to the Coronation. But the survey revealed a wide gulf in attitudes across the generations, with three-quarters of 18 to 34year-olds in favour of the Duke attending, compared with 47 per cent of the over-55s.

Mr Welby, who will be the first Archbishop to crown a monarch since Geoffrey Fisher in 1953, has admitted he is having ‘nightmares’ about the Coronation going wrong.

He said: ‘I think two nights ago I dreamt we had got to the point [of placing the crown on the King’s head] and I had left the crown at Lambeth Palace. Now, how did I get the crown to Lambeth Palace since it’s guarded by half the Army? I’ve no idea. But I was looking around and the King was looking at me. A nightmare. It’s obviously weighing on me quite a lot.

‘It’s just an enormous honour and privilege… and the Coronation weekend is going to be a time of bringing the country together... to be part of that, of course it’s pressure, but it’s a huge honour.’

The Cabinet Office is establishing a ‘Coronation committee’ of civil servants, Royal officials and Church of England representatives to plan the event on Saturday May 6, the start of a bank holiday weekend. The Home Office will also be heavily involved in the arrangements given the security issues it raises. The celebrations will begin with The King’s Procession, with the King and Queen Consort travelling from Buckingham Palace to the Abbey in the Gold State Coach. The Coronation service has

remained essentially the same for more than 1,000 years and for the last 900 years has taken place at the Abbey.

Charles will be crowned alongside Camilla as he sits in the Coronation Chair, which dates from the start of the 14th Century. After being anointed, Charles will have St Edward’s Crown, made in 1661 for the Coronation of Charles II, placed on his head.

Prince William will also take on new titles at the Coronation, including being formally named as the Prince of Wales. Camilla will formally take the title of Queen Consort and will have the Crown of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother placed on her head.

After the ceremony, Charles and Camilla will return to the Palace and appear on the balcony with other working members of the Royal Family.

A concert will follow the next day, with British rock and pop icons performing alongside a choir of refugees, NHS staff and LGBTQ+ singers at Windsor Castle, all broadcast on the BBC.

In the evening, landmarks across the UK will be illuminated with lasers, drone displays and more in an event called Lighting Up The Nation.

On Monday, The Big Help Out will celebrate the work of volunteers.

Archbishop admits to Coronation nightmares