Late Queen ‘would have wanted Andrew and Harry on balcony’, says royal expert

Queen Elizabeth II would have wanted Prince Andrew andPrince Harry on the Buckingham Palace balcony followingKing Charles’ Coronation, a royal expert claimed.

Former royal butler Grant Harrold said the late Queen would have been “sad” that her son and grandson did not appear during the iconic balcony moment because she was “all about family”.

King Charles andQueen Consort Camilla wereofficially crowned at Westminster Abbey on Saturday – with thousands of people lining the streets of London to take in the spectacle, as millions more watched on at home.

Following the historic service, the King and Queen Consortproceeded through the capital in the Gold State Coach and returned to Buckingham Palace for their iconic balcony moment.

Charles and Camilla were joined on the balcony by other members of the Royal Family – includingPrince William andKate Middleton. However, Prince Andrew and Prince Harry were not present for the moment.

Relations between the Duke of Sussex, 38, and the Royal Family have been strained following the publication ofHarry’s book Spare. Meanwhile, the Duke of York, 63, remains banned from royal duties following the fallout from hisconnections to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Former butler Grant, who worked for the King for seven years as part of his Royal household, said that the late Queen would have been “very proud” of how her son Charles handled the momentous Coronation occasion.

However, speaking toOddspedia, he added: “I think the sad part from her point of view would have been not having Harry and Andrew on the balcony, but as non-working members of the Royal Family, that would have been a given. The only thing I would say to that, and I’m a big supporter of the Royal Family, is that it would have been nice for Harry to be there.”

He added: “I think with the Queen, she was all about family and she would have wanted to have seen them there.”

Grant went on to say that it was a “shame” that Harry did not wear a military uniform for the occasion.

He said: “I don’t know who makes that decision, whether it was the King’s decision or the household’s or Harry’s, but I wondered what the Queen would make of that. She was very proud of her family and their military backgrounds."

He concluded: “As far as the King and Queen go, however, and the whole service, I think she would have been over the moon.”

Buckingham Palace confirmed on Saturday that Harry would have "no formal role" at the historic ceremony that saw his father King Charlesofficially crowned.

The Duke did attend the service, taking a seat in the third row with his cousins Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice, but he left Westminster Abbey swiftly after itto catch a flight back to the US.

His wifeMeghan Markle, meanwhile, skipped the ceremony andremained at their home in Montecito, California with their children Lilibet, one, and Archie, who turned four on Saturday.

And, according toSky News, Harry’s representatives were understood to be keen to spell out on Tuesday that when the palace said Harry had “no formal role” during the Coronation, it meant he was not invited to appear on the balcony.

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