The British royal family is in the midst of a pair of health scares after both King Charles and Kate Middleton were diagnosed with cancer. Yet, a different kind of tension is also brewing, this one surrounding the “wedding of the year” between the Duke of Westminster Hugh Grosvenor and his betrothed, Olivia Henson.
By time of writing, Daily Mail reports that King Charles and Queen Camilla are not confirmed to be attending—and the event is three weeks away. But absence is something they may have in common with none other than Prince Harry. Why, and what other kind of snub does this come not long after between the family members?
Tension mounted between the royals at the last high-profile wedding
Protocol made for a strained situation at a previous royal wedding. Back in 2004, the duke’s sister, Lady Tamara Grosvenor, got married to Edward van Cutsem, godson to the king. Queen Elizabeth II arrived at the venue alongside her husband, Prince Phillip, and their grandsons, Prince Harry and Prince William.
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According to Daily Mail, because of this arrangement, Camilla was told she would need to arrive separately and sit further back, away from Charles.
“Her Majesty is a stickler for protocol,” a courier explained back then. “It would be inappropriate for Mrs Parker Bowles to sit beside Prince Charles since she has no official standing.”
In retaliation, days before the big day, Charles said he would not be attending, instead visiting Warminster barracks and seeing families of soldiers serving in Iraq. Camilla was cited as “otherwise engaged.” Now, memories of this messy affair are resurfacing as certain patterns reemerge.
King Charles and Queen Camilla may not be attending the “wedding of the year,” and the same goes for Harry
Both Daily Mail and Cheshire Live report that there has been no formal confirmation that King Charles and Queen Camilla will attend the upcoming wedding, even with less than a month to go. Speculation currently favors them not attending at all, fueled by the invitation they rejected roughly two decades ago.
In a similar vein, recent reports indicate that Prince Harry will also not be attending. He made a choice to avoid the ceremony so that lingering tensions between royals—especially in the wake of his and Meghan Markle’s departure from their ranks—would not overshadow the festivities. The groom, Grosvenor, is the godfather of Harry’s son Archie.
According to the Independent, the guest list for this “wedding of the year” has some 400 members, but whether that will include King Charles and Queen Camilla remains to be seen, with theorists favoring a resounding no.
