Prince Harry’s painful decision between Meghan Markle or King Charles

Prince Harry faces a hellish decision which will see him have to pick between Meghan Markle and King Charles.

COMMENT

Royal princes over the centuries are always having to make hard choices: Which squint-eyed Danish cousin to marry; which Covent Garden actress to shag on the side; and which variety of small birds they are going to kill in a bravura midmorning sadism.

Blood sports, extra-curricular bonking and wedding Euro princesses might no longer be on the cards for Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex but this week the 38-year-old finds himself in a similarly tricky spot.

Would it surprise anyone if I said it all came down to the coronation?

Having ticked the ‘attending’ box on his father King Charles’ coronation evite, we know that the Duke is set to show up for the historic occasion while his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex will resolutely stay put in California, sanguinely dodging the wrath of her HRHs-in-law.

Prince Harry is UK-bound for the coronation. Picture: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

Next week at some point Prince Hal is going to have to dust off his, these days, barely used passport and fill his favourite North Face backpack with his complete set of travel-sized essential oils to fly back to the UK.

However, now he has to make another seriously tough call, and has to pick between his father and his wife.

It boils down to this: Will Harry race back after the coronation, when the holy oil on Charles’ forehead isn’t even dry, to be back in time for his son Prince Archie’s fourth birthday? Or will he try and use this solo trip to do a spot of fence-mending with his dear old pa?

There have been decidedly mixed signals of light when it comes to working out how exactly things stand between Charles and Harry.

When the latter jetted in to do some courtside scowling in late March as one of the celebrity claimants suing the Daily Mail for allegedly breaching their privacy, Buckingham Palace reportedly let it be known that His Majesty was “too busy” to see his son.

This would have been easier to buy if his State visit to France had not just been cancelled at the last minute.

King Charles and Prince Harry, seen in 2014, didn’t meet up last time Harry was in the UK. Picture: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

Better news came over the weekend when The Sun reported that Harry had agreed to attend the coronation after a having a “heart to heart talk” with Charles. Let’s just hope the Duke’s many emotions were validated and that the Netflix mikes were all turned off.

So green shoots, olive branches, mended bridges – insert your cliche of choice here.

The point is, for the first time in years, here was the faintest glimmer of hope.

Except this tentative progress – if two men having a civil conversation and one of them not promptly leaking the details to a breakfast TV host constitutes ‘progress’ – could all be for naught if Harry does not stick around a bit in the UK, according to a new report.

Where things get complicated is that May 6 is not only the coronation but also Archie’s birthday, ostensibly the reason that Meghan won’t be travelling to London. (Am sure it has nothing to do with the hostile family, nation and media that will greet the Sussexes …)

Thanks to the fact that the actual coronation is now looking like it will be a highly economical hour-long and thanks to the time difference, if Harry basically went straight from Westminster Abbey to Heathrow, he could feasibly be back in Montecito on his son’s birthday.

Prince Harry could make it to son Archie’s birthday if he flew back to LA straight after the coronation. Picture: Netflix

Except that now a longtime friend of Prince William’s has now told the Daily Beast’s perennially well-sourced Tom Sykes that if Harry only returns for a matter of hours for the coronation it will be quite the slap in the face for the royal family.

“If he comes for less than 24 hours, it’s a massive diss really,” the chum has said. “You know, ‘Tell us how you really feel, Harry.’”

According to Sykes: “In some quarters of Buckingham Palace, of course, running out of your dad’s big day to attend a child’s birthday party might be perceived not so much as a noble devotion to paternal obligations as an almighty ‘F**k you!’”

(While things with Charles just might be on the up, the same definitely cannot be said for the Brothers Grim, aka William and Harry, with the friend telling Sykes that things between the men are “so bad they are non-existent”.)

Which means that, not to put too fine a point on it, Harry’s future relationship with his father could come hinge on where he decides to spend those precious hours on May 6: In London soaking up the national high of a nice bit of pomp or handing out Paw Patrol lolly bags to preschoolers?

Prince Harry is still caught between his old and new life. Picture: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

Now, a bit of a dash of cold reality here. Even if Harry decided to spend days and days holed up inside Frogmore Cottage, his bittersweet last stint at what was his and Meghan’s UK home, it’s not to say that Charles could or would be popping around for cups of tea and deep and meaningful chats on the reg.

Given this is probably the most important week of the King’s life, it would have to be highly unlikely he has large gaps in his diary for in-person Harry bonding time (‘Another trust fall Pa?’) but it’s the look of the thing. For the Duke of Sussex staying a tad longer in the UK would register as him making an effort and as a real show of support.

But, making that choice could mean missing Archie and all of his little Californian friends (Tree? Quorn? Zuma?) racing about the Sussex estate’s garden high on sugar and red food colouring number nine.

Sure, Harry could fly in ahead of the coronation but last it was reported, Charles and wife Queen Camilla had only managed one full rehearsal of the big day suggesting they need all the prep time they can get.

Thus poor old Aitch now faces quite the predicament. Does he choose his father or his family? London or Montecito? Honouring his royal legacy or focusing on the future?

Recently The Telegraph’s Gordon Rayner reported that for Meghan, “the British chapter of her life is behind her, and in front of her all pathways are in the US”.

The former Suits actress might be able to park her brief UK stint as a couple of years of uptight relations, drizzly weather and the occasional flaccid Yorkshire pud but can – or would – Harry be able to do the same? Another Sun report has claimed that the Duke is “homesick” and was “desperate” to be there for his dad’s biggest of big days.

At this stage I think we are facing only a few dead certainties for next week: Harry could well end up with another case of frostbite courtesy of his icy family, Meghan will be spending some of her downtime toasting her new membership of Republic UK and Archie has a huge duty-free Toblerone coming his way.

Daniela Elser is a writer and a royal commentator with more than 15 years’ experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles.