The monarch's coronation ceremony is slated for May 6 in London.
While King Charles III may "very much" want Prince Harry and his grandchildren to attend his upcoming coronation, a source tells ET that the royal family feels Harry and Meghan Markle attending could divert attention away from the historic event.
A source close to the royal family tells ET that there's concern that if Harry and Meghan attend the May 6 coronation ceremony in London, it could steal the spotlight from the king himself.
"The big concern is the chaos that could overshadow the coronation if they attend," the source says. "No one wants to see the focus taken away from King Charles with the press focused on Harry and Meghan and past family squabbles."
The source adds, "The fear is -- if they do come -- more private matters could be made public, so efforts are being made to prevent that."
As ET reported last month, a source close to the royal family had said Charles "very much wants Prince Harry and his grandchildren at his coronation." This came after a spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex told ET that the couple had been invited by email.
"The duke has recently received email correspondence from His Majesty's office regarding the coronation. An immediate decision on whether the duke and duchess will attend will not be disclosed by us at this time," Harry and Meghan's rep shared.
That being said, there's still no word on whether Harry and Meghan will make the trek across the pond. And there may be renewed tension between Harry and the royal family, after Harry claimed last week that the royal family withheld information from him in wake of the 2005 phone hacking scandal. Harry submitted a witness statement as part of his lawsuit against Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), saying, "The Institution made it clear that we did not need to know anything about phone hacking and it was made clear to me that the Royal Family did not sit in the witness box because that could open up a can of worms."
He further alleged that "the Institution was without a doubt withholding information from me for a long time about NGN's [News Group Newspapers] phone hacking and that has only become clear in recent years as I have pursued my own claim with different legal advice and representation."
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