Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have been included in King Charles’ official coronation program.
The souvenir program for King Charles, 74, and Queen Camilla, 75,’s coronation on May 6th, hit UK newsstands on Monday. The 84-page illustrated pamphlet contains biographies of the King and Queen Consort, information on the coronation events, the history of the traditions, and family portraits.
One of King Charles’ 70th birthday photos, taken by royal photographer Chris Jackson and distributed by Clarence House to commemorate the occasion in 2018, is included in the booklet. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are shown smiling alongside King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William, Kate Middleton, and their three children, Prince George, 9, Princess Charlotte, 7, and Prince Louis, 4, in the family photo. (Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s children, Prince Archie, 3, and Princess Lilibet, 22 months, had not yet been born.)
“Nice to see this picture I took in 2018 in the Official Coronation Programme – Had such fun taking it,” Jackson wrote on Instagram Tuesday.
The inclusion of the image was a poignant choice, given Prince Harry, 38, and Meghan, 41, will step down from their royal positions and travel to the United States in January 2020. When Queen Elizabeth was informed of Harry and Meghan’s royal departure, she stated that they “will always be much-loved members of my family.”
Following King Charles’ ascension, framed portraits of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were seen in family photo exhibits throughout Buckingham Palace. During the monarch’s meeting with then-Prime Minister Liz Truss in October, a shot from Harry and Meghan’s royal wedding in 2018 was seen, while Prince Harry and Meghan were all smiles in a picture from Prince Louis’ christening in 2018 shown behind Queen Camilla a week later.
Prince Harry and Meghan’s inclusion in the official coronation souvenir program follows the news that Prince Harry will attend the upcoming crowning ceremony while Meghan will not.
“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,” the palace said in a statement last Wednesday.