The rift between Prince Harry and other members of the royal family reportedly has one of his close friends choosing sides. According to The Sunday Times, Harry and Meghan Markle are not invited to the wedding of Hugh Grosvenor and Olivia Henson, because Grosvenor wants to avoid royal family drama overshadowing the big day. But, the situation is complicated as Grosvenor, who is the Duke of Westminster, has close connections to Harry, Prince William, and King Charles III.
RELATED: Royals "Threw Harry Under the Bus" to Distract From William Affair Rumors, Insider Says.
As reported by People, Grosvenor is one of the godparents of Harry and Markle's son, Prince Archie, and also a godparent to William and Kate Middleton's first son, Prince George. He himself is also the godson of Charles, and his mother, Natalia Grosvenor, is one of William's godparents. The publication also notes that Harry and William were both ushers in the 2004 wedding of Grosvenor's sister, Lady Tamara Grosvenor.
Grosvenor and Henson plan to tie the knot on June 7 at Chester Cathedral in Chester, England. A source said to be a friend of Harry's and Grosvenor's told The Sunday Times of the circumstances impacting the invite list, (via Page Six), "It’s incredibly sad it has come to this." They explained further that Grosvenor "wanted to avoid anything overshadowing the day, especially for Olivia and doesn’t want any awkwardness." They added, "Hugh is one of very few close friends of William and Harry’s who has maintained strong bonds and a line of communication with both. He wishes they could put their heads together and patch things up, but realizes it’s unlikely to happen before the wedding."
Reportedly, William, Middleton, and Charles have all been invited to the wedding, while Harry and Markle have not. A representative for Grosvenor told People, "We are not in a position to comment on the guest list."
Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images
Reports about the rift between Harry and Markle and other royals have been coming out for years, and matters particularly heated up when the couple stepped down as senior members of the royal family in January 2020 and moved to the U.S. Then, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex shared more of their side of the story in an interview with Oprah Winfrey and in a Netflix documentary, and Harry opened up in his January 2023 memoir, Spare. Among other recent feud reports, there have been claims that William purposely sabotages Harry by secretly working with the U.K. press.
In addition to reportedly not being invited to Grosvenor's wedding, Harry and Markle also made headlines recently for other events. In November, The Sunday Times reported that Harry would not be at Charles' 75th birthday party even though he was invited. Harry's representative released a statement saying that the report was not accurate and Harry had not been invited.
Also in November, a source told The Times that Harry and Markle would be amenable to accepting an invitation to celebrate Christmas with the royal family this year, if one were to be extended. Then, a person said to be a friend of William told The Daily Beast that the Prince and Princess of Wales would not spend Christmas with the royal family if Harry and Markle were there. "Would you want to sit down for a slap-up lunch with someone who had basically called you an [expletive] in public? It would be a total humiliation," the source said. "William and Kate are never, ever going to sign up for that, and Charles wouldn't ask them to."
For more celebrity news delivered right to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.
