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Prince Harry and William's relationship hits ‘final nail in the coffin’: Royal expert
Prince Harry declines invitation to the 7th Duke of Westminster's wedding to avoid 'awkward' encounters with royals, especially Prince William.
The 7th Duke of Westminster, Hugh Grosvenor, a very close friend of both Prince Harry and William, has his wedding ceremony scheduled for June 7 at Chester Cathedral.
As the Duke of Westminster is set to join hands with Olivia Henson, Prince Harry has reportedly turned down a “save the date” of the invitation to avoid any “awkward” encounter with other royals.
Prince Harry's 6-year-old son, Prince Archie, will also not attend his godfather's wedding ceremony.
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The Duke of Sussex “sidelined” himself amid reports that his brother, Prince William, will be at the ceremony as an usher. And that “triggered” Harry to turn down the invitation.
A source close to the situation told Express UK, “William was asked to take up a leading role in the wedding and that’s what triggered Harry to decline an invitation. It was the final nail in the coffin.”
“Harry was very close to Hugh growing up so everyone thought it would have been him taking up a leading role, not William,” the source added.
Prince Harry would ‘snub’ the wedding anyway
However, even months before the revelation that Prince William will attend the wedding as an usher, a source told Page Six that Prince Harry will “snub” the ceremony anyway.
The source told Page Six at that time, “Harry actually got a ‘save the date’ card a few months ago but called Hugh and said it would be too awkward if he and Meghan Markle attended, so he made his apologies and Hugh understood.”
Royal expert and author Tom Quinn told The Mirror UK last month, “William will attend the wedding of Hugh Grosvenor, the seventh Duke of Westminster – he can hardly avoid it as Hugh is Prince George’s godfather.”
He also noted, “Harry declined on the grounds that it would just be ‘too awkward’,” and added, “But there are other reasons – Harry knows he can’t attend without Meghan and Meghan has absolutely insisted she won’t be there.”
