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The British royal family, world royals and hundreds of charity representatives came together forKing CharlesandQueen Camilla’s coronation — but some players were missing.
Meghan Markle,Sarah FergusonandCharles Spencerwere not among the 2,200 people inWestminster Abbeyfor the crowning ceremony on Saturday.
Buckingham Palacepreviously announcedthatPrince Harrywould attend while the Duchess of Sussex stayed back in California with their children,Prince ArchieandPrincess Lilibet, on her son’s4th birthday.
“Buckingham Palace is pleased to confirm that The Duke of Sussex will attend the Coronation Service at Westminster Abbey on 6th May. The Duchess of Sussex willremain in Californiawith Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet,” the palace announced in April.
Prince Harry, 38, wanted to be at the coronation to support his father at this important moment in his life, a friend told PEOPLE.
Prince Harry.Ben Stansall - WPA Pool/Getty Images
“I personally will be having a little tearoom and coronation chicken sandwich and putting out the bunting, that’s what I’m going to be doing. Because that would make me very happy,” the Duchess of York, 63, said in April. “I also love to watch it on the telly because you hear a lot on the telly. The commentators are always good. And then all the family come back.”
“Because, remember, I am divorced from him,” Ferguson continued, referencing her relationship with the Duke of York, whom she divorced in 1996. “I don’t expect — you can’t have it both ways. You can’t be divorced and then say, ‘I want this.‘You’re in or you’re out.”
ANDREW MATTHEWS/POOL/AFP via Getty
Though she was not at Westminster Abbey, Fergie maintains a warm relationship with King Charles and Queen Camilla. In recent months, she was invited to spend Christmas and Easter with the royal family andexpected to be inthe VIP section of the Coronation Concert on Sunday.
While recently speaking to PEOPLE about her historical fiction novelA Most Intriguing Lady, the Duchess of York said she hoped to do all she could for the royal couple.
“I’mvery supportiveof the King and the Queen Consort, and I really am glad to do whatever it takes to support them on their road ahead,” Fergie told PEOPLE.
Sarah Ferguson.David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty
ThoughPrincess Diana’s younger brother Charles has stepped into the spotlight for special occasions likePrince WilliamandPrince Harry’sroyal weddings, he revealed over the winter that hewould not be atthe coronation. While appearing on theOff Air… with Jane and Fipodcast in February, host Jane Garvey playfully asked Charles if he’d participate in the crowning ceremony given his peerage title as Earl Spencer.
“I think we’ve never had an official role in it, just turned up like everyone else used to, when it was the hereditary peers and the House of Lords,” the author and historian, 58, explained. “That’s no longer the case. There is some old coronet knocking around somewhere, but I won’t be wearing it soon, I don’t think.”
“Will you not be going?” Garvey pressed.
“I wouldn’t have thought so — I think it’s only about 2,000 people going,” Charles replied, pointing to the slimmer guest list greatlyscaled backfrom the 8,251 people atQueen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953.
On the same topic, the podcast host continued, “Can I ask you, Charles, I imagine your feelings on that day might be quite mixed? Those of us with memories of your sister Diana, I think many of us…we will be thinking of her, and I hope that’s not offensive, but she will be in our minds.”
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“I think that’s very complimentary, actually,” he replied. “Obviously, I think of Diana every day, in a different context.”
Charles was a visible figure at Princess Diana’s funeral in 1997, from walking behind her coffin with his young nephews William and Harry to delivering theeulogy.
More recently, the 9th Earl Spencer attendedQueen Elizabeth’scommittal servicefollowing her death in September. The Queen was Charles’ godmother, and his father John was an equerry to the monarch in the 1950s.
source: people.com
