EXCLUSIVE Palace expects Harry and Meghan to attend Coronation

Buckingham Palace is making plans for Harry and Meghan to attend the King’s Coronation, The Daily Mail can reveal.

Staff organising logistics for the historic occasion have been instructed to include the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in their programme for May 6, sources have said.

Insiders caution that there has been no word yet that the couple have formally accepted King Charles’s invitation, which their spokesman revealed was recently sent to them in California ‘by email’.

It is likely that negotiations around what events the couple would attend, where they would sit, what they would wear and, of course, their security, will go right to the wire.

Staff organising logistics for the historic occasion have been instructed to include the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in their programme for King Charles’ (pictured) Coronation on May 6, sources said

Insiders caution that there has been no word yet that the couple have formally accepted King Charles’s invitation. Pictured: King Charles and Prince Harry at Windsor Castle last September 

But the fact that officials within the Master of the Household’s Department and Lord Chamberlain’s Office are anticipating their attendance is the strongest suggestion yet that the Sussexes could make an appearance, despite spending much of the last three years throwing brickbats at the monarchy as an institution as well as the rest of the Royal Family.

One source told the Mail last night: ‘Harry and Meghan are being factored into all of the planning… the cars, the seating plans, dining arrangements, everything.

‘No one knows for certain whether this means they have definitely accepted – it could, of course, be just in case they do – but it’s clearly not a “no”. The staff are certainly working on the expectation they are coming. These kind of arrangements have to be made well in advance.’

A second source with knowledge of Harry and Meghan’s thoughts on the issue backed the suggestion they could fly over, saying: ‘The indication is that they are, although there is a lot that needs to be worked through first.’

Last night a palace source confirmed the Mail’s story, saying it was ‘always easier to make plans and provisions that might subsequently have to be dropped than not make any and then suddenly have to get that in motion further down the line’.

Meghan Markle outside a restaurant in West Hollywood yesterday

The Duchess of Sussex is pictured yesterday as she leaves restaurant Gracias Madre in West Hollywood

Pictured: Harry speaks to his father as his wife Meghan Markle looks on during Trooping The Colour 2018

A spokesman for the Sussexes revealed last week that they had received an email about the Coronation but added no decision on the couple’s attendance would be ‘disclosed by us at this time.’

An appearance at the first coronation of a British monarch for 70 years would certainly burnish the couple’s royal credentials. Their time as working royals and relationships with family members have formed the basis of their biggest media deals in the US so far.

News that the couple have decided to start publicly calling their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet is also being interpreted as another sign of their determination to retain an association with the monarchy, despite their relentless attacks on it.

Yesterday the Palace finally updated its website to include the ‘birthright’ titles of Harry and Meghan’s children. They are now featured as Prince Archie of Sussex, sixth in line to the throne, and Princess Lilibet of Sussex, who is seventh. The King has seen his grandson, who turns four on the day of his crowning, only a handful of times. He has met Lilibet, 21 months, just once at Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee.

If they do fly to the UK, it is likely that the duke and duchess would attend a minimal number of public events over the three-day celebratory weekend, which is focused around the ceremony at Westminster Abbey on the Saturday. The Royal Family are expected to appear on the balcony back at Buckingham Palace afterwards. It has already been suggested that this will be limited to working royals, avoiding any awkwardness around the Sussexes and the disgraced Duke of York.

However, the King could yet hold out a further olive branch to his estranged son, but that would take a huge act of forgiveness from many family members present. The Prince of Wales is angry about Harry’s behaviour, which has seen a series of high-profile media interviews to promote his tell-all memoir Spare.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, pictured last year, previously confirmed they have been invited to the King’s Coronation

The Sussexes could use their visit to the UK to clear out their remaining belongings from Frogmore Cottage (pictured) 

But the prince would not stop his brother from attending, nor would he wish to spoil his father’s big day, sources say.

As William will be taking part in the ceremony and his brother will not, it may be that the pair would not even be required to meet. Harry, 38, has been demanding an apology – or at least a full and frank conversation with his father and brother – if he were to attend.

But the Mail revealed last week that Charles, 74, and William, 40, are in no mood to pander to his demands. The Sussexes could use their visit to the UK to clear out their remaining belongings from Frogmore Cottage. They have been given notice to quit by the early summer.