On May 6, 2023, King Charles was crowned, marking 1,214 days since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle decided to step down as working royals and relocate to the US.
Despite past tensions, Prince Harry, now 40 years old, made the journey back to Westminster Abbey to support his father on this significant day.
This event marked Harry’s first public appearance with the Royal Family since the passing of his grandmother, the late Queen, and his first since the revelations in his controversial memoir, Spare.
Unable to wear military dress to the Coronation as this is a privilege reserved for working members of the family, Harry looked dashing in a sleek three-piece morning suit with an assortment of medals on his chest.
Relegated to the third row, he sat alongside his cousins Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, their respective husbands and the disgraced Prince Andrew.
But of all the blood relatives he could have chosen to confide in, Harry instead chose to speak to Eugenie’s husband Jack Brooksbank – a marketing executive. A clip from ITV News shows the start of this conversation.
Expert lip reader Jeremy Freeman told The Sun that a grim faced Harry allegedly said: ‘I’m fed up with the way they treat me.’
‘It’s not an ideal situation,’ the Duke added. To which Mr Brooksbank apparently replied: ‘It’s not the quiet life, is it?’
Prince Harry arrives to the Coronation of his father King Charles on May 6, 2023
The Duke of Sussex sits alongside his cousins Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, their respective husbands and the disgraced Prince Andrew
Although this doesn’t appear in the clip, Harry, who is fifth-in-line to the throne, shook his head and seemingly said: ‘They don’t care.’
‘I haven’t time for that,’ Mr Brooksbank allegedly replied. ‘Not if it’s over…’
‘It’s an eventuality,’ Harry interrupted.
While it is not clear exactly what the pair were discussing, many royal fans theorise it was regarding Harry’s strained relationship with his immediate family.
But this was not the only interaction Freeman was able to interpret during the Coronation.
As Charles was sheltering from the rain in his gold-lined carriage ahead of the ceremony, the trained lip reader saw him moaning about the time.
Freeman also noticed the King grumbling under his breath while waving to the roaring crowds from the Buckingham Palace balcony after the ceremony.
‘I can’t see a thing with this crown. I can’t look up,’ the King told his wife Camilla.
It was the first time Harry was pictured with the Royals since lambasting them in the bombshell memoir Spare
Harry speaks to Princess Eugenie’s husband Jack Brooksbank at Westminster Abbey
Minutes after the ceremony ended, the Duke headed to Heathrow to fly back to California
‘I can’t see anything either,’ she replied. ‘My crown will fall off.’
The newly crowned King and Queen were joined on the balcony by an array of familiar faces including Prince William, Princess Catherine, as well as the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh – all of whom are working royals.
Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis also joined their parents on the balcony, waving enthusiastically to the crowds of adoring fans.
But their uncle Prince Harry was nowhere to be seen.
Minutes after the Coronation ended, he had jumped into a BMW and taken to Heathrow where he boarded a flight to Los Angeles. He was in the UK for just over 24 hours.
It is believed the Duke was eager to get back to his £11million Montecito mansion to celebrate his son Archie’s fourth birthday.
A well-placed source told the Daily Mail’s Royal Editor Rebecca English at the time that the King was ‘genuinely quite disappointed’ that Harry did not stay.
Rebecca later wrote that the King had raised a glass to toast Archie’s birthday at a family lunch after the Coronation – a tribute to the grandson he has barely seen.
The King and Queen grumble on the balcony about their crowns, according to a lip reader
Charles and Camilla wave to a sea of adoring royal fans from the Buckingham Palace balcony
Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, Princess Charlotte, Princess Catherine, Prince Louis and Prince William joined the King and Queen on the balcony
Prince George (centre) served as a Page of Honour at the coronation
The royal reception opened with an adoring speech from Prince William who congratulated his father for getting through the historic day.
Charles then thanked everyone in return and raised a glass to his three grandchildren Prince George – who also served as a Page of Honour – Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, who were among the stars of the show and carried out their public appearances with aplomb.
But he also toasted ‘those that weren’t there’ before wishing his grandson Archie a very happy birthday ‘wherever he was’.
A source told Rebecca: ‘It was apparently a very sweet moment’.
