{"id":114170,"date":"2026-08-31T05:25:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T05:25:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/114170\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T05:25:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T05:25:34","slug":"prince-harry-hopes-to-attend-the-cenotaph-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/114170\/","title":{"rendered":"Prince Harry hopes to attend the Cenotaph again"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prince Harry<\/a> has reluctantly accepted that he will be unable to attend Remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph and other military events despite his Army<\/a> record.<\/p>\n

Although the Duke of Sussex and his family have returned to the UK, they will not be working royals and therefore will not receive invitations to attend the national remembrance service or other state events such as Trooping the Colour.<\/p>\n

And while palace aides have previously said that he could apply to join the 10,000 veterans marching down Whitehall past the imposing Cenotaph war memorial, such an appearance would cause a huge logistical and security headache.<\/p>\n

It is clear that Harry, who spent 10 years in the armed forces and did two tours of duty in Afghanistan, would want to attend the Cenotaph but he appears to have accepted there is no point lobbying his father or anyone else about it \u2013 a move that could be seen as a conciliatory approach towards his family after his return to Britain<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The fifth-in-line to the throne is likely to mark Remembrance Sunday in November privately.<\/p>\n

A source close to the Duke of Sussex told The i Paper: \u201cWould he like to attend the Cenotaph? Would he like to pay his respects in the proper way that people do on Remembrance Sunday and on Armistice Day? Of course he would.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe served his country and has the deepest gratitude and respect for those who made the ultimate sacrifice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Not a family occasion\u2019<\/p>\n

Harry\u2019s final day of public appearances in the US included a trip to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and honour the fallen.<\/p>\n

But the same source made it clear that the Duke of Sussex recognises that under the current system, members of the Royal Family attending the Cenotaph are there in their capacity as representatives of the monarch and the military patronages they hold.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s very much what we would call a constitutional event rather than a family occasion,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

For the same reason, as a private individual with no official responsibilities, Harry is said to also accept that he, Meghan and their children will not be invited to Trooping the Colour, the state\u2019s annual celebration of the King\u2019s official birthday.<\/p>\n

Harry\u2019s apparent acceptance of the situation was described as \u201csignificant\u201d by the royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams, who suggested it was a sign that he really did want to reconcile with his family.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is really sensitive because Harry and he who cannot be named (Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor) are the only two who have served in a conflict.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something he feels very strongly about,\u201d Fitzwilliams added, recalling Harry\u2019s upset in 2020 when his family refused a request for a wreath to be laid at the memorial in his name on Remembrance Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt clearly shows he wants to reach out. I think this is an emollient message.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LONDON,Harry\u2019s handwritten note on his wreath which he laid at the Cenotaph during the annual Remembrance Sunday Service in 2015 (Photo: Max Mumby\/Getty)<\/p>\n

Veterans\u2019 march would be \u2018distraction\u2019<\/p>\n

For the past few years, senior palace officials have made it clear that neither Harry nor his disgraced uncle, Mountbatten-Windsor<\/a>, would be invited to attend the Cenotaph because they no longer undertake official duties on behalf of the monarchy.<\/p>\n

But they could apply to join the thousands of veterans who walk past the memorial and end their march in Horse Guards Parade after parading past a member of the Royal Family taking the salute.<\/p>\n

Applications are submitted to regimental associations and other military organisations or the Royal British Legion. Harry, who reached the rank of captain and served as an Army Air Corps Apache helicopter pilot, has missed the deadline to apply to march in the parade this year.<\/p>\n

Fitzwilliams, a former editor of The International Who\u2019s Who, said Harry marching in Whitehall with other veterans could overshadow the day. \u201cIt would be a partial if not a total distraction,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The source ruled it out anyway, arguing it would be difficult for him to ever do that. \u201cSecurity would be a nightmare,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Prince Harry has reluctantly accepted that he will be unable to attend Remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":114171,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[34831,2708,9251,2594,46784,2618,5,6],"class_list":["post-114170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uk","tag-duchess-of-sussex","tag-king-charles","tag-meghan","tag-prince-harry","tag-remembrance-day","tag-royal-family","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/117188462297950254","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}