What the duke wore. Prince Harry attended King Charles III‘s coronation in a morning suit rather than his military uniform.
The Duke of Sussex, 38, smiled as he entered Westminster Abbey on Saturday, May 6, with his cousins Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice and their respective husbands, Jack Brooksbank and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. The BetterUp CIO was dressed in a custom three-piece Dior suit decorated with his military medals.
As the group made their way to their seats, Harry walked alone behind Eugenie, 33, and Brooksbank, 37. He ultimately sat in the third row behind his aunt Princess Anne and uncle Prince Edward.
Meghan Markle, for her part, stayed at home in California with the couple’s children, son Archie, 4, and daughter Lilibet, 23 months.
Harry’s wardrobe became a major topic of conversation when he returned to the U.K. for the funeral of his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022. The Invictus Games founder served in the army for 10 years, doing two tours of duty in Afghanistan and training as a helicopter pilot.
When he and Meghan, 41, stepped down as senior working royals in 2020, the Spare author was stripped of his honorary military titles. For that reason, he is no longer allowed to wear his military uniform on formal occasions.
For Elizabeth’s final vigil, however, Harry was granted permission to wear his uniform. He had previously been barred from wearing it for the procession to Westminster Hall.
Harry later addressed the decision via a statement: “[Prince Harry] will wear a morning suit throughout events honoring his grandmother. His decade of military service is not determined by the uniform he wears and we respectfully ask that focus remain on the life and legacy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.”
After his uncle Prince Andrew received permission to wear his uniform for the queen’s final vigil, though, some critics questioned why Harry wasn’t granted the same exception. The Duke of York, 63, was stripped of his titles in January 2022 after Virginia Giuffre, one of the late Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers, sued him for sexual assault. Andrew fervently denied Giuffre’s allegations and later settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.
Amid the uniform controversy, commentator Shola Mos-Shogbamimu told Newsweek that it was “deplorable” that Andrew could wear his when Harry could not.
“Prince Harry served with distinction. He served in the army with distinction, rising in the ranks. He did two tours of Afghanistan. He still works with veterans and promotes support for wounded men and women. Plus, he started the Invictus Games [a sporting event for wounded servicemen and women]. If there was anyone between the both of them who has the right to wear a uniform, then it’s Prince Harry,” Mos-Shogbamimu said. “I’m thinking about Charles. Hasn’t he learned a thing or two about the backlash that the queen got about the way she protected Prince Andrew?”
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The palace appeared to have a change of heart days after the controversy made headlines, and Harry was ultimately allowed to wear his uniform for his final goodbye to the queen, where he and his family members stood guard over her coffin ahead of the funeral.
The uniform, however, was missing Elizabeth’s royal insignia — an “ER” embroidered on the epaulet. Eagle-eyed observers noticed that Prince William‘s uniform featured the emblem while Harry’s did not.
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