Prince Harry Played a Limited Role at King Charles’ Coronation

Prince Harry attended the coronation of his father, King Charles III, on Saturday, May 6. He was there without his wife, Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, or their two young children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

The Duke of Sussex, who resigned from his royal duties in 2020 and has continued to call out his family amid an ongoing public rift, lives in the U.S. now. He arrived at Westminster Abbey alone, with footage showing him filing in and chatting with his cousins, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice, along with their husbands, Jack Brooksbank and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.

Buckingham Palace confirmed Prince Harry’s attendance in April, but noted that he and Prince Andrew would have no formal roles in the coronation because they’re no longer working royals, according to the BBC. (Prince Andrew was removed from his royal duties in 2019 over his years-long friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender.)

Read More: Tina Brown on Why King Charles III Will Be Worth the Wait

The Prince was seated alongside other non-working royals in the third row, two rows behind his brother, Prince William, Prince William’s wife Kate Middleton, and two of their children. Opting to wear a morning suit with medals, rather than robes or a military uniform like some royals did, Prince Harry sat beside Brooksbank, and not far from his uncle, Prince Andrew. Harry served in the British Army for 10 years, but according to People, asked to wear a simple suit to the ceremony. “I think because he served in the army, he should’ve been in full army gear,” Nicky Douville, a 37-year-old Essex resident visiting London in hopes of seeing the royal family, tells TIME.

The King’s coronation fell on Prince Harry’s son’s birthday, which some have said explains why Meghan, their four-year-old son—Archie, and their one-year-old daughter—Lilibet, may have stayed home in California. Statements released earlier this year by Buckingham Palace and Archewell—Harry and Meghan’s charitable foundation—confirmed that Harry would attend, and that the rest of the Sussex family would remain in the U.S.

Read More: These Photos Show the Most Defining Moments of King Charles III’s Coronation

Prince Harry later left the coronation in a car by himself, as opposed to the carriages bound for Buckingham Palace that most other senior royals took. He reportedly had plans to fly home for his son’s birthday, according to the BBC. He did not appear on the balcony at Buckingham Palace alongside the other royals who had gathered to wave to admiring crowds after the coronation. According to The Telegraph, this means he also won’t appear in any of the formal photographs. “That’s really gutting because he’s part of their family,” Douville says.

The Prince hasn’t been seen in public with members of the royal family since his bombshell memoir, Spare, was released earlier this year. The book depicted many members of the royal family, including his brother, father, and stepmother, Queen Camilla, critically. Many speculate that relations between the Sussexes and senior members of the royal family remain tense, following years of conflict that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have alluded to in a March 2021 interview Oprah Winfrey and a 2022 Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan.

— YASMEEN SERHAN CONTRIBUTED REPORTING FROM LONDON