Meghan won't be exiled from future royal events for skipping coronation, expert says

There's been much speculation about what Meghan Markle skipping King Charles III's coronation means for her royal future.

However Camilla Tominey, associate editor of Telegraph UK, tells 9Honey it won't leave the Duchess of Sussex in exile or barred from attending future royal events.

"I think if invited, she can go to whatever she wants," Tominey says at a Foreign Press Association event in London.

"And I think the King particularly is keen to keep open those lines of communication."

Watch the video above.

READ MORE: Meghan 'planning, parenting and regrouping' during absence

The royal reporter and Today show commentator says it's understandable the mum-of-two has prioritised her son's birthday over her father-in-law's ceremony.

READ MORE: How images of King Charles' coronation will be different

"I don't think anyone's that surprised that she's not decided to come, because she wasn't guaranteed what the reception might be and also because of Archie's fourth birthday, she's got other priorities," Tominey tells 9Honey.

After Prince Harry and Meghan's RSVP was made public last week, there's been chatter about whose decision it was for the duchess not to go along to the May 6 event inside Westminster Abbey – the Sussexes or the palace.

But Tominey says it was a choice that came from a series of discussions.

"I think it's very much the Duchess of Sussex's decision not to come to the coronation," she tells 9Honey.

"The palace aren't in a position to tell Harry and Megan what to do anymore.

"And when the palace talk about kind of 'genuine cooperation', what they're saying is there was a dialogue, the invitation was extended and that that was the decision the couple came to.

"I don't think now, several years on from Megxit, we're ever going to be seeing a situation where Meghan is dictated to by the palace anymore."

Harry and Meghan left their roles as senior working members of the royal family in March 2020, in a move now known as Megxit, and set up their life in the US.

There they've signed book, streaming and podcast deals to pay their way independently of the the shackles of royal life, while returning ad-hoc for big events like Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee last June and her funeral in September.

So, while the Duchess of Sussex might not be by her husband's side during the historic royal event, it doesn't mean this is the last we've seen of her among members of the British royal family.