The King has asked the Archbishop of Canterbury to broker a deal to allow Harry to attend his Coronation – but has met resistance from William, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Charles wants Justin Welby to strike an agreement with his warring sons that would allow Harry and his wife Meghan to attend the Westminster Abbey ceremony in May, senior sources close to Lambeth Palace say.
WAR AND PEACE: Charles, William and Harry at a 2017 military memorial event
Speculation has 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, earlier this month, that contained a string of wounding attacks on senior members of the Royal Family.
The King is said to believe that Harry and Meghan's absence at the coronation would be a greater distraction than their presence, so is prepared to make concessions to persuade them to attend.
But William is understood to be concerned that his brother will use the event to stage a 'stunt' that would overshadow the event.
Sources say Harry could be guaranteed a high-profile seating position in the Abbey or an informal assurance that he will be able to keep his titles as an inducement to attend.
However, William fears that unless Harry's visit is tightly scripted, he could steal the limelight by, for example, going on a walkabout in a deprived London borough with Meghan.
One source said: 'The issue of substance is whether they attend the Coronation, and if they do, under what terms and conditions.
'The family is split, and all the indications are that Harry is being advised to agree to nothing at this stage and 'play it long' right up to the last minute, which is making negotiations with him very difficult.
'Harry's camp made clear that the idea that he would just attend the Coronation and behave himself but then be stripped of his titles was a total non-starter.
'While he might decide at some point to discard his titles of his own volition, he objects to the idea of being forcibly stripped of them.
Charles wants Justin Welby to strike an agreement with his warring sons that would allow Harry and his wife Meghan to attend the Westminster Abbey ceremony in May, senior sources close to Lambeth Palace say
'He resents being lumped together with Andrew in the public mind as the two 'problem Princes', when he considers the circumstances to be totally different.'
Last night, both Lambeth Palace and Buckingham Palace declined to comment, while a source close to Prince William said they were not aware of any such negotiations over the Coronation.
Harry's representatives did not respond to a request for comment.
Mr Welby, who will officiate at the ceremony at Westminster Abbey, 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 soap opera surrounding the Sussexes when Meghan claimed in a TV interview that he had secretly married them before their official wedding in 2018 – forcing him to clarify that the ceremony broadcast to the world was the legal marriage.
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.
Harry removing Meghan's veil at their wedding in St George's Chapel on May 19, 2018
Speculation over Harry and Meghan's attendance at the coronation comes after the release of the couple's Netflix docuseries and the Duke of Sussex's tell-all memoir, Spare.
Despite the King's dignified silence about the allegations aired in Spare, Royal insiders say he was 'livid' about his son's attacks on the Queen Consort 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.
The King has not publicly responded to Harry's allegations and insiders fear Charles may be questioned about them if he were to do a pre-Coronation interview.
The BBC is planning a feature on the King, detailing his life and plans for the nation as monarch.
Charles is said to be 'mulling over the interview offer' but Palace aides are allegedly 'concerned about the line of questioning', insiders told The Mirror.
'It is not the done thing to avoid subjects in interviews, so it makes matters tricky,' the source explained, adding that the situation is 'very delicate.'
The Palace knows that any commentary about the Sussexes would 'make worldwide news' and could prompt a response from Harry and Meghan, which the insider said 'would be unpredictable.'
Charles could also pre-record content and supply it to the BBC which, allowing the Palace to have control over the narrative. Pre-recorded content would 'not address the Sussexes,' the insider added.
