Archie and Lilibet may have role in Coronation – if their parents RSVP

HARRY and Meghan’s children could have a role in King Charles’s Coronation – if the Sussexes confirm they are attending.

Royal officials are waiting for the couple to decide whether they will be accepting their invitation to the big day in just seven weeks’ time – and whether they will be bringing Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet with them. Once Palace aides get that response, they can open discussions on what roles the children may play.

Yesterday it emerged that Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis will form part of the King’s procession out of Westminster Abbey after the ceremony. Initial reports suggested that Prince Archie, who will turn four on the big day itself, and Lilibet, one, had not been invited to take part.

But a royal source last night said they were waiting to hear from the Sussexes before discussions around the King’s youngest two grandchildren could begin.

Rehearsal documents, seen by The Times, revealed that the Prince of Wales’s children will travel with their parents as the Royal party leaves the Abbey. Charles and Camilla will be travelling back to Buckingham Palace in the Gold State Coach, with those next in line to the throne following behind.

George, nine, and Charlotte, seven, participated in the Queen’s funeral procession last September but at the time four-year-old Louis was deemed ‘too young’.

Other working Royals to take part in the May 6 procession are set to be the Princess Royal, her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tom Laurence, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke of Kent and Princess Alexandra. As non-working Royals, Prince Andrew, Princesseses Beatrice and Eugenie and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are not expected to participate.

Draft documents circulating to those involved in the planning of the Coronation have revealed a possible schedule of events – as detailed in the graphic above – although nothing has yet been finalised. Charles has asked for a more modest Coronation than his mother’s three-hour service in 1953.

A source added: ‘Two versions of the plans [for the day] are being drawn up. One includes Harry and Meghan and one doesn’t. Timings are all approximate at this stage, but they are working towards a timetable now.’

Buckingham Palace declined to comment last night.