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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Zoe Forsey & Kyle O'Sullivan

Why Prince Harry isn't on Buckingham Palace balcony - but rest of Royal Family are

Following a spectacular Coronation at Westminster Abbey, the newly crowned King Charles and Queen Camilla are back to Buckingham Palace with the rest of the Royal Family.

They went straight up to the famous balcony to wave to the huge crowds gathered outside and down the Mall to catch a glimpse of them, giving them the best seats in the house for the impressive Red Arrows flypast.

The new King and Queen stood side-by-side for the special moment, with Charles' oldest son Prince William and his family around them. Princess Kate, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis were in their element watching the planes fly over.

They were joined by Prince Edward, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, Princess Anne and her husband Timothy - but there was one notable royal missing from the line up.

Despite flying all the way from the US to London to be part of the event, Prince Harry didn't join his family for the famous balcony moment.

Charles limited the list to working royals, which meant Harry and his uncle Prince Andrew weren't due to be part of the occasion.

(Getty Images)

But Andrew was allowed to wear his royal robes, while Harry was told to wear a suit.

The Duke of York turned up wearing his formal Order of the Garter robes, despite having no formal role in the Coronation ceremony.

It had been expected that King Charles would follow the lad of his mother, the late Queen, by banning his brother from putting on the ceremonial robe.

So it came as a surprise that Andrew was in royal attire but Harry wasn't allowed, despite being entitled to.

However, Harry is a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) after being made so by the late Queen in 2015.

This means he would be entitled to wear the order's vivid blue mantle, but the Palace allegedly told him not do.

Harry made the journey to the UK alone after his wife Meghan Markle decided to decline the Coronation invitation. She remained at their California mansion with their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attends the Coronation of King Charles III (Getty Images)

Little Archie is celebrating his fourth birthday today, with Harry expected to fly home straight away to join in some of the celebrations.

The couple confirmed their decisions in a short statement last month. It read: "The Duke of Sussex will attend the coronation service at Westminster Abbey on May 6th. The Duchess of Sussex will remain in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet."

Buckingham Palace released a very similar statement, but adding the word "pleased". Staff wrote: "Buckingham Palace is pleased to confirm that the Duke of Sussex will attend the Coronation Service at Westminster Abbey on 6th May.

"The Duchess of Sussex will remain in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet."

It is reported that Archie and Lilibet were not formally invited to the event as organisers were waiting to hear if they would make the trip to the UK before devising any plans.

Meanwhile, sources told The Telegraph that Harry "would always regret it" if he didn't attend the Coronation and wanted to be there on the "biggest day" of his father's life.

Another friend told the publication Meghan considers her future to be in the US, with it also reported her appearance at the Coronation risked "overshadowing the event".

The report also adds that Harry and Meghan were understood to be "concerned" about their reception by the British public.

Today's Coronation has been the first time that Harry has seen his family after he made a series of shocking claims about the in his controversial memoir Spare.

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