Prince Harry's Coronation Seating, Explained
Many fans expected some drama when Prince Harry arrived at The Coronation of King Charles III and Camilla, including his placement in the seating chart. When the day came, Prince Harry was seated in the third row at Westminster Abbey – not alongside his brother. A royal expert explained this decision during the live broadcast on CNN.
Prince Harry was seated alongside other royal family members on Saturday morning, but not among the "working royals." The prince stepped down from many of his royal duties and gave up his royal income back in 2020 so that he could move to the U.S. with his wife, Meghan Markle. According to CNN's Max Foster, this seating arrangement was not disclosed to the press ahead of time, but it made sense. Prince Harry is undeniably a "prominent member of the royal family" as the son of the king, yet he is not a working member of the institution. That means he was given "a prominent seat" in spite of the fact that he did not have a formal role in the ceremony. This put the prince on the same level as his uncle, Prince Andrew – albeit for very different reasons.
"Working royals" are those whose full-time job is to conduct the business of the crown, including Prince William and Kate Middleton. In his memoir Spare, Prince Harry revealed that his father refused to pay Markle as a working royal even once she and Prince Harry were married. This was shocking and insulting to the prince, especially because of how casually the king told him.
Prince Harry recounted in his book how his father told him bluntly that he wouldn't be putting Markle on the payroll, no matter what duties she carried out for the royal family. He reportedly said that money was spread too thin thanks to Middleton's family and others, and even suggested that Markle should keep her acting career going to support them. Last month, a new book by royal reporter Robert Jobson emphasized this as a major breaking point for the family, saying that Prince Harry was "infuriated" by this exclusion from his family's usual lifestyle.
Prince Harry was cordial throughout the coronation, but he did not participate any more than necessary. The prince arrived in London on Friday night and left immediately after the ceremony. He got back to L.A. on Saturday evening in time to celebrate his son's fourth birthday. The rest of the weekend's festivities went on without him.