Prince Harry shares a joke with Archbishop of Canterbury as he wishes him ‘good luck’ while walking into Westminster Abbey after claims King asked Justin Welby to broker deal to get duke to the Coronation
- Harry briefly spoke with Archbishop of Canterbury as he walked in yesterday
- King was said to have asked Mr Welby to broker a deal to allow Harry to attend
Prince Harry shared a joke with Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby as he walked into Westminster Abbey for his father King Charles III’s Coronation yesterday.
Expert lip reader Jacqui Press told MailOnline today that she believes Harry said ‘good luck’ as he moved past the Archbishop, who then replied: ‘Thank you.’
Their light-hearted exchange came after Charles was said to have asked Mr Welby to broker a deal to allow Harry to attend – but met resistance from Prince William.
Mr Welby has emerged as a key figure in reducing tensions between the Sussexes and the Royal Family, because he has served as a trusted confidant for both parties.
However there have also been claims that Mr Welby was upset after Meghan told Oprah Winfrey in 2021 that he had married them secretly in their ‘back yard’ a few days before the wedding – something which was untrue and would have been illegal.
Yesterday, Harry’s appearance at the Coronation marked his first public appearance alongside the royals since he lambasted his family in his controversial memoir Spare.
Harry also chatted with Jack Brooksbank and his wife Princess Eugenie – with whom he is close to, unlike many other members of the Royal Family – as they walked in.
Harry could be seen saying ‘amazing, look, the bump’ and using his hands to gesture towards Eugenie’s baby bump. Mr Brooksbank then said ‘I know’ as he walked away.
Prince Harry speaks with to Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby at the Abbey yesterday
Harry shares a joke with the Archbishop of Canterbury as he walks past him yesterday
Justin Welby laughs as Harry walks past at Westminster Abbey upon his arrival yesterday
The reverse angle of Harry speaking to Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby yesterday
He was seated in the third row at the abbey for the crowning of Charles and the duke’s stepmother the Queen, and was placed two rows behind his brother William.
How Justin Welby’s relationship with Harry and Meghan has grown
Justin Welby’s relationship with the Sussexes has deepened through a series of meetings since his first encounter with Meghan in the run-up to the wedding.
The world saw the Archbishop of Canterbury officiate at their wedding at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on Saturday, May 19, 2018.
The couple later revealed that he had also presided over an earlier ceremony in which they claimed they had got ‘married’ in secret.
Meghan told Oprah Winfrey in her sensational 2021 interview: ‘Three days before our wedding, we got married. No one knows that but we called the Archbishop and we just said, ‘This thing, this spectacle is for the world, but we want our union between us’.
‘So the vows we have framed in our room are just the two of us in our backyard with the Archbishop of Canterbury.’
But the Archbishop later clarified the claims, saying: ‘I had a number of private and pastoral meetings with the Duke and Duchess before the wedding. The legal wedding was on the Saturday.’
In 2019, the Archbishop christened the couple’s first child Archie in the private chapel at Windsor Castle. Two years later it emerged Mr Welby had pulled out of attending the Church General Synod in York in order to officiate.
He has praised Meghan, saying: ‘She’s a person of profound humanity and deep concern for people, seeking to carry out her role with every ounce of her being – and I think she’s a remarkable person.’
In 2021 he expressed sympathy for Harry, telling the Financial Times that being in the Royal Family was ‘life without parole’ and the public expected them to be ‘superhuman’.
Last December, Mr Welby was asked on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme whether the Sussexes could ever reconcile with the Royal Family.
‘I can’t really comment on it because I married them and there’s sort of pastoral confidentiality,’ he stated. But he said reconciliation was possible, adding: ‘There’s always a way forward, but it has to be at the right time.’
Harry chatted to his cousin Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi as he entered the church yesterday in the drizzling London rain.
He then walked past the Archbishop and shared a few words with him, before nodding and smiling to other guests as he processed behind Beatrice and Edoardo, walking down the nave of the abbey alone.
It is understood that Harry wore what he was asked to wear, which consisted of a dark morning suit and tie, his Afghanistan and Jubilee medals pinned to his suit jacket, and a Royal Victorian Order star and neck decoration.
During the service, as the congregation paid homage to the King, Harry was seen, along with the other royals around him, speaking the words: ‘God save King Charles. Long live King Charles. May the King live forever.’
But he returned to California after catching a British Airways flight from London Heathrow Airport within a few hours of the Coronation finishing.
His abrupt return to the US meant he did not appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony for the finale of the day, with Buckingham Palace confirming earlier that he had no formal role at the event.
Harry arrived at Los Angeles International Airport at around 6.30pm local time to reunite with his son on his birthday.
Archie turned four yesterday and spent the day with his mother, the Duchess of Sussex, at their US home.
British Airways flight attendants confirmed that Harry had been on the flight but said they were not permitted to discuss the details of his trip.
It follows reports in The Mail On Sunday on January 29 that quoted senior sources close to Lambeth Palace saying Charles wanted Mr Welby to strike an agreement with his warring sons that would allow Harry and Meghan to attend the ceremony in May.
Speculation had been rife about whether the Sussexes would attend the high-profile event since they stepped away from Royal duties – and especially since the publication of Harry’s tell-all memoirs, Spare, that contained a string of wounding attacks on senior members of the Royal Family.
The King was said to have believed that the couple’s absence would be a greater distraction than their presence, so was prepared to make concessions to persuade them to attend.
But William was understood to have been concerned that his brother would use the event to stage a ‘stunt’ that would overshadow the event.
On April 12, Buckingham Palace confirmed that Harry would attend the Coronation but that Meghan would stay in California with the couple’s children Archie and Lilibet.
Sources then indicated to the Daily Mail one day later that Harry delayed replying to the invitation because he was engaged in ‘transatlantic ping pong’ and was ‘preoccupied’ by where he would have to sit.
Harry also chatted with Jack Brooksbank and his wife Princess Eugenie as they walked in
Harry is seen outside Westminster Abbey with Justin Welby and Prince Andrew yesterday
The Duke of Sussex arrives ahead of the Coronation at Westminster Abbey yesterday
(From left) Princess Eugenie, Jack Brooksbank and Prince Harry at the Coronation yesterday
Harry (centre, far right) stands at the Coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey yesterday
It was said to have been one of the reasons he was so late in confirming his decision to attend.
Multiple sources confirmed to the Mail that there were ‘extensive discussions’ between London and California over the issue.
Mr Welby was first asked to act as an intermediary between William and Harry shortly after the Queen’s death in September.
He has previously been dragged into the row surrounding the Sussexes when Meghan claimed in a TV interview that he had secretly married them before their official wedding in 2018.
This forced Mr Welby to clarify that the ceremony broadcast to the world was the legal marriage.
2018 – Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stand facing each other hand-in-hand before Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby during their wedding at St George’s Chapel, Windsor
2019 – Harry attends a mental health workshop at Lambeth Palace hosted by Justin Welby
2014 – Prince Harry with Kate Middleton and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby at a ceremony in Belgium commemorating the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War
He was also forced to pull out of the Church’s General Synod in July 2019 in order to baptise the couple’s son, Archie.
Despite the King’s silence about the allegations aired in Spare, Royal insiders say he was ‘livid’ about his son’s attacks on Queen Camilla, calling her ‘dangerous’ and a ‘villain’ in TV interviews to promote his book.
The Duke said: ‘She was the villain, a third person in the marriage, she needed to rehabilitate her image.’
Harry also accused William of physically attacking him and claimed the Palace planted negative stories about Meghan in the media.
Harry has called for a reconciliation with his family, but only if they apologise to him.
Source: Read Full Article
