King Charles' coronation will take place on Archie's 4th birthday.
King Charles III's coronation and his grandson Archie's birthday may be on the same day, but it's not a snub at Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. ET's royal expert, Katie Nicholl, is breaking down what the coincidence means for the Sussexes, and whether they'll attend the coronation.
"Well, having the coronation on Archie's birthday is definitely not a snub. I think it’s very much a happy coincidence," Nicholl said of the coronation falling on Archie's fourth birthday. "Obviously, a huge amount of planning has to go into an important moment in history, such as a coronation, and the royal calendar is full of anniversaries and birthdays, so I think this is absolutely one of those occasions where it’s a coincidence and hopefully a happy coincidence."
Whether Harry and Meghan will attend is another story, with Nicholl telling ET that it's not clear yet if they've received an invite.
"We haven’t got any official details on the guest list, but I’m hearing they are likely to be invited along with other senior and extended family members," she shared. "Whether or not we see them there -- we have to wait and see, but it’s my understanding they will be, of course, receiving an invitation to the coronation."
"It remains to be seen whether or not they attend," Nicholl continued, adding, "but of course, it will be down to the Sussexes to make the ultimate decision as to whether they're going to come over for King Charles coronation on May the 6th."
The coronation will look very different to the late Queen Elizabeth II's lavish affair, with the palace scaling the ceremony back in length and in numbers.
"It will feel different from the queen's coronation and it will look very different to the queen’s coronation. It will be televised, but the service is likely to be an hour rather than the three hours of the queen's coronation, and the number of people invited -- well, there were 8,000 VIPs and dignitaries invited to the queen’s coronation. We're understanding that closer to 2,000 will be invited to Charles coronation," she explained. "To give you an idea, that's about the number invited to the queen's funeral. It's not the case that the Abbey is going to look empty by any means, and in terms of pomp and pageantry, what're we going to see -- lots of concerns over here in the U.K. that might also be scaled back, but my sources assure me that there will be plenty of spectacle, pomp and all the pageantry you can expect for a ceremony that is really nearly 1,000 years old."
"We're expecting to see the king and queen consort taken to Buckingham Palace in the gold stage coach as well," Nicholl added. "That will be quite a spectacle that most of us have never seen before."
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