Meghan will relaunch career after coronation, royal experts say

Meghan Markle did not want to ‘play second fiddle to Kate’ and would only have attended King Charles III’s coronation ‘if she was assured of a prominent position’, royal experts have claimed.

The Duchess of Sussex will stay in California with her children Archie and Lilibet for the May 6 ceremony – before an expected career relaunch once her husband Prince Harry returns.

It was this week confirmed that Prince Harry will attend his father’s Coronation ceremony alone, and is not expected to be at any of other events during the weekend or be a part of the coronation procession.

Friend of the couple Omid Scobie was quick to reveal to his followers that a large reason Meghan had decided to stay in LA was because Archie is set to turn four on the same day as the ceremony.

But royal commentators have said they do not believe this is the case, instead pointing to the long-running feud between the Sussexes and the rest of the royal family.

Prince Harry will attend the coronation alone on a ‘quick’ visit to the UK, while Meghan will stay at home with their children

Observers said the Princess of Wales had ‘made sure’ Meghan would be ‘humiliated’ if she attended the coronation, and suggested Buckingham Palace knew its decisions would ‘deter’ the Duchess from coming.

They also speculated as to a relaunch of her career after the coronation, saying the next steps she takes are ‘crucial’ to her long-term success. 

One expert added that King Charles ‘could and should have made certain that Harry did not come’.

But sources close to the Palace this week said that the monarch was ‘happy’ with his son’s decision, and was sad he would not see Meghan or his grandchildren. 

It was also revealed this week that Sarah Ferguson, the ex-wife of the disgraced Duke of York and mother to Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, did not receive an invite to the ceremony. 

Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams said he believes Meghan ‘would be there’ if she believed the coronation would help her personal brand.

He said: ‘Meghan was asked to the Coronation but her decision not to go is clearly evidence that she regards herself as totally distanced from the royal family. 

‘She has the excuse of Archie’s birthday, but if she thought it would benefit their brand, she would be there. 

King Charles III, pictured at Sandhurst on Friday, ‘could and should have made certain’ that Prince Harry did not attend his coronation, one royal commentator said

Since quitting as a working royal, Prince Harry (right) has launched a series of attacks on his relatives, including his father the King (left)

‘We know Harry will attend alone, according to Omid Scobie it appears he will only attend the ceremony and his visit will be fleeting. It doesn’t seem there will be much if any chance for even the beginnings of any reconciliation.’

Commentator Tom Bower said Prince Andrew’s ex-wife Fergie had not been invited to the coronation because she ‘is not a member of the royal family’.

By contrast, he said Kate Middleton ‘made sure’ that Meghan would be ‘humiliated’ if she attended the coronation, and that King Charles should have barred Prince Harry from being present at all.

He told MailOnline: ‘Fergie is left out because she is not a member of the Royal family and Charles dislikes her. 

‘By her past conduct, she has permanently excluded herself from public ceremonies, and her presence would provoke critical comment which Charles doesn’t need.

‘Meghan is different. Although she was invited, I never thought she would come. She would have only come if she was assured of a prominent position. 

‘That was deliberately denied to her. Meghan was also told that she would have to curtsey to the Queen, Kate, and Sophie. Everyone in Buckingham Palace knew that was too much for her and would be another reason to deter her from coming. 

‘In any case, Meghan would not want to play second fiddle to Kate, and Kate certainly made sure that Meghan, if she came, would be humiliated. 

‘Meghan doesn’t want to be part of the royal family. She has won all the benefits of the marriage and never wanted to play a supporting part in the service to the country. 

‘The guest list at her wedding in 2018 showed that she always intended to return to California. Now she wants to get on with the next stage of her adventuress career. 

‘The question was always whether Harry would come alone. That was uncertain. 

‘King Charles could and should have made certain that Harry did not come, but in the end the king agreed an ugly compromise. 

‘Harry will come but be relatively side lined. He’s fifth in line of succession and does not want to be denied his rights. He also does not want to cut himself off completely from Britain. So he succumbed. 

Archie, pictured with his parents as a baby, turns four on May 6 and will have his mother with him to celebrate while his father jets off to the UK

PR guru Mark Borkowski said that Meghan’s next move is crucial, because Spare and her husband’s ‘truths’ in the media blitz that followed had damaged his brand and tarnished her, too

‘Talk about Archie’s birthday is just a Sussex smokescreen to deny the truth: their demands were rejected.’

Brand and culture expert Nick Ede told MailOnline Meghan is in the process of separating herself from the royals, for her own benefit, while her husband maintains his connections by heading to London May 6.

He said: ‘I think once the Coronation is over and the eyes of the world are off the king and Prince Harry then Meghan will launch a new initiative. I suspect she will have been working on some new projects that will enable her to stand alone rather than use Prince Harry.

‘I would advise her to let the coronation pass and then launch new projects that will make money and allow her to put a real stake in the ground and establish her properly as a worldwide celebrity. 

‘She needs to wait a bit! Otherwise it will damage her. I think she is most likely to announce a wellness space like the Tig or a new documentary series’.

PR guru Mark Borkowski said that Meghan’s next move is crucial, because Spare and her husband’s ‘truths’ in the media blitz that followed had damaged his brand and tarnished her, too.

He said: ‘She’s kept her head down for some time. I suspect this is due to the noise that accompanied Spare, it created debate and a huge amount of coverage. I don’t think it played well in America, especially with their fundraisers. 

‘The Royal Family refused to comment so it became one sided whinging and a visceral story of his life that didn’t resonate well. And they were both challenged by that because they are on a constant mission to raise money and generate coverage to help her brand.

‘There is nothing for her to gain from disrupting the King’s big day. She needs to stand back. In the PR game it is choosing your battles and the strategy will be to get past the coronation.

‘The fact that she is not there is a statement that the UK does not particularly engage with her and looks like: “Poor me”.

‘But the Meghan and Harry story is way beyond the boundaries of Britain and the Commonwealth. There will definitely be a relaunch by Meghan. It is impossible for them to stay quiet. 

‘They need the royal pomp and ceremony. They could end up becoming an entity like Edward and Mrs Simpson. Some forlorn royals with no connection to the family being in exile. There are parallels there. 

‘They will be very quick to regenerate interest. But it is going to be more and more and difficult. For many Spare was a set of stories that went too far’.

The speculation around Meghan Markle’s career come after she stepped back from the limelight after the release of her husband’s memoir Spare.

The Duchess of Sussex has only been seen four times in public since the launch of the Sussexes’ Netflix series in December as experts claimed she has kept her head down to avoid flak sparked by the book.

In the series, the couple accused members of the royal family of briefing against them, while Prince Harry wrote in Spare that Queen Camilla ‘sacrificed’ his wife on her ‘personal PR altar.’

He also claimed his brother William, now the Prince of Wales, physically attacked him after a tiff between his wife and Kate Middleton.