King Charles extends olive branch to Harry and Meghan by pledging to invite them to his Coronation

King Charles has extended an olive branch to Harry and Meghan as he pledged they will be invited to his Coronation, despite the fallout from their explosive Netflix documentary.

Although the official invitations for next year’s historic event have yet to go out, several well-placed sources have told the Daily Mail that Charles has graciously told his son and daughter-in-law they will be welcome to the historic event.

His view is understood not to have changed despite the most recent brickbats thrown at him and other family members by the couple as part of their multi-million-pound deal with the streaming giant.

Calls have grown for the Sussexes to be stripped of their titles after the release of their Netflix series which heavily criticised the royal family, but the Firm want to retain the ‘dignity’ of silence and not have on-going battle of who gets the ‘last word’.

Royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith, said that Harry ‘inadvertently gave his father an opening’ to take away his and his wife’s titles.

‘The Sussex titles could go. It is a question of figuring how to do that best,’ she told the Times, adding that the King was ‘certainly entitled to do it’.

She said it would be similar to how the royal family name was changed from from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor during the First World War.

Working members of the royal family reportedly want to continue their public engagements despite public criticism and do not wish to comment on the row, sources told the Telegraph.

Charles and Camilla are planning to hold the biggest royal Christmas event in five years, and the Sussexes are unlikely to be in attendance.

While Camilla’s children and Royals from Prince Andrew to Mike Tindall will be there – Harry and Meghan will be on the other side of the Atlantic, the Sun reports.

Royals of the so-called ‘loyal family’ have been invited to a spend Christmas at Sandringham with the King

Plans for the glittering Coronation – which will reflect historic tradition with Charles’s desire for a modern ceremony representing a leaner monarchy – are moving forward apace. The Mail has learnt that the King and Queen Consort visited Westminster Abbey recently as part of extensive reconnaissance for the event.

St Edward’s Crown has already been removed from the Tower of London to be resized.

And it is understood that the Queen Consort, who will be by her husband’s side, has also chosen her crown. It has not been confirmed which one, but the smart money is on the State Diadem, mostly recently worn by Queen Elizabeth II to and from the State Opening of Parliament.

The Mail revealed earlier this year that there was concern about using the Queen Mother’s Crown as previously planned because of controversy over the famous 105-carat Koh-I-Noor diamond – although the gem could be removed.

In this week’s Netflix finale, Harry accused his father of being a liar when they sat down to thrash out details of his and Meghan’s future at the so-called Sandringham Summit in January 2020.

He said it was ‘terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me and my father say things that just simply weren’t true and my grandmother quietly sit there and sort of take it all in’.

The embittered prince also made wild claims about senior royals being determined to tear Meghan down after becoming jealous of her popularity by planting negative stories about her in the media.

He said it was expected that someone ‘marrying in’ to the Royal Family should play a supporting role – using his late mother as an example – and that tensions emerged when it became clear that Meghan was ‘stealing the limelight – or doing the job better than the person who was born to do this’.

Buckingham Palace has declined to comment on the myriad of unsubstantiated accusations.

And it is understood that with just over five months to go until his Coronation at Westminster Abbey on May 6, the King is determined not to be side-tracked by family drama.

A source said: ‘Harry is his son and His Majesty will always love him. While things are difficult at the moment, the door will always be left ajar.’

Another source said they thought it ‘unlikely’ the invitation would be rescinded even if further distressing accusations were made by Harry in his memoir next month.

Palace officials are said to be dreading the publication of the tell-all book, Spare, in which it is expected that further claims about Harry’s childhood and treatment by the Royal Family will be made. 

Some believe the couple would be ‘utterly hypocritical’ to turn up at the Coronation, considering the heartache to which they have subjected the family, particularly over claims of racism and a failure to support them.

‘It would be utterly hypocritical but then again not entirely unsurprising if they did, let’s just say,’ one insider remarked.

The Palace declined to comment, saying the guest list for the Coronation hadn’t yet been compiled.

In last week’s three episodes of Harry & Meghan on Netflix, the 38-year-old prince all-but airbrushed his father out of his life and even hurtfully suggested he was brought up by alternative families in Africa and the Army.

While Charles wasn’t always a hands-on father and struggled to balance the demands of a family with his official royal role, friends say it would be wrong to paint him as uncaring.

‘I know conversations have been had around them attending the Coronation and while there are a lot of potential pitfalls between now and then, I can’t see His Majesty’s attitude to this changing,’ another source suggested.

Whether the Sussexes decide to attend is another matter.