Prince Harry Balcony Absence Reveals Stark Reality About His Future

King Charles III and Queen Camilla appeared before the public on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in crowns they had worn for the first time just minutes earlier while Prince Harry was already on his journey home to America.

The Duke of Sussex left his father's coronation so fast he was still wearing his Dior morning suit and medals as he was pictured arriving at Heathrow Airport for the flight back to California for Prince Archie's fourth birthday and to see his daughter Princess Lilibet.

To all intents and purposes, however, it seems likely Harry would never have made it onto the balcony having been grouped with Prince Andrew and the Duke of York's daughters, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice, on his way into Westminster Abbey.

The trio, all non-working royals, were sat in similar positions to Harry for the service and denied a balcony spot at the end of the day.

There were also rumors circulating in the British press that Harry had been invited to a lunch at the palace but had not confirmed attendance.

Harry's early escape ruled him out of official photographs of the day which were taken by Hugo Burnand, Charles and Camilla's wedding photographer, after the balcony appearance.

How the day played out all adds to the framing that Harry's future is firmly outside and separate from the royal family with implications not only for royal relations but also for the prince's relevance back home in America.

Over December and January a fresh onslaught against the royals through Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan and the prince's book Spare led to criticism from normally supportive U.S. media, ridicule from comedians, and a significant dent in their popularity.

The salutary lesson then was that they cannot endlessly commercialize their difficult experiences during their time as working royals years after quitting the palace.

At the coronation though, the choreography appeared to highlight an additional point that Harry cannot simply fly back into Britain to renew his relevance at leisure after he was sidelined in the third row back.

This reality may not sound all that new but it was at play on May 6 to a far greater extent than at Queen Elizabeth II's funeral and commemorative events in September 2022, when Harry joined processions alongside his brother Prince William and other royals.

There was also renewed sympathy for Harry back then during discussions over whether he would have the right to wear his military uniform after his two front-line tours of Afghanistan. Even ardent critic Piers Morgan backed the duke on that issue.

Overall, the shift means there is added pressure on Harry and Meghan to deliver on their Netflix and Spotify deals in a way that does not simply cash in on the monarchy they have spent so much time criticizing.

Harry's last-minute dash to the airport has generally been received as an attempt to make it home in time to see Archie on his birthday, though interestingly at age four Archie is unlikely to have a concrete sense of which date his birthday actually falls on.

Harry and Meghan could, therefore, have celebrated a day or even a week later and Archie would have been none the wiser. It is a sleight of hand that many parents perform for all kinds of reasons far less significant or historic than the first coronation in 70 years.

It all confounds Harry's statement during an interview with ITV in January that he still believes in monarchy.

With Queen Elizabeth II gone, Harry's blink and you'll miss it in-and-out visit reflects a new reality that has emerged since September 2022 that—whatever his public statements—there is now very little to connect him and the monarchy on either side.

Harry also appears to be a subscriber to his mother's view of palace staff who Diana viewed as the "men in grey" who clipped her wings.

So, his relationship with the current King is fraught, with the next King it is now virtually non-existent, and, barring a few exceptions, he appears to have had a fairly negative view of courtiers dating back decades.

He told ITV he still believes in a monarchy but is yet to express any actual enthusiasm alongside repeated swipes at what he calls "the institution."

And it is Meghan who now appears to be the more forward-looking in the relationship after a statement from a Sussex spokesperson recently explaining her absence from the coronation by stating that she was "going about her life in the present."

Meanwhile, Prince Harry made further high-profile disclosures likely to upset his family in a near-17,000 word witness statement to the High Court in London as recently as April. And that case was based on historic allegations of phone hacking, including some dating back to the 1990s.

So beyond the birthday celebrations and warmth of family life, the reality that Harry returns to in California is the challenge of joining Meghan in the present—while also making the future commercially successful without the allure of the monarchy he rushed to leave behind.

Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.