Former BBC Royal Correspondent Michael Cole has revealed the two senior members of the Royal Family who will be “noticeably absent” from the Invictus Games service in London next week.
As Prince Harry returns to the UK, it has been revealed that “no members of the Royal Family” are expected to attend the event, which will commemorate ten years of the games.
Speaking to GBN America, Michael Cole claimed Prince William and Princess Kate will “not be attending” the service at St Paul’s Cathedral, as Prince Harry will be flying solo, without wife Meghan Markle.
Cole told host Nana Akua that there are “no chances of a reconciliation” between the royal brothers, as the feud between the Sussexes and the Waleses remains unsolved.
Michael Cole says Kate and William were ‘instrumental’ in the Invictus Games. PA / GBNA
Detailing the involvement of Prince William and Princess Kate in the Invictus Games “pre-Meghan”, Cole explained: “Do you realise that at the beginning, because this was all pre-Meghan, this is 2014, William and Kate, the Prince and Princess of Wales, were very instrumental through their foundation in encouraging Harry when he set up the Invictus Games, in company with the Ministry of Defence.
“All of that is forgotten now, but they were.”
Discussing the Invictus Games Thanksgiving service, Cole added: “They [William and Kate] will not be at Saint Paul’s Cathedral they will be noticeable by their absence.
“So the possibility of Harry becoming reconciled with his brother, I would say, is between slim and nil – and I would opt for nil.”
He told GBNA: “Of course, there is the Harry problem. He’s coming next week for the 10th-anniversary service of Thanksgiving at Saint Paul’s Cathedral.
“I think it will be a key moment because we will see whether the King will receive his son. I think he will see him.”
Cole added: “I think there’s a good possibility that he will be in town. The King has other duties. And he has always made it clear that his door remains open to his youngest son.
“The prodigal is always welcome at home. Of course, he has to be contrite, and he has to ask for forgiveness beforehand, but the King will do that.”
Michael Cole says Prince Harry will ‘not reconcile’ with Prince William
However, Cole reaffirmed his doubt of any reconciliation between Prince Harry and his brother, Prince William, despite the siblings “making a vow to Princess Diana” that they would never feud.
He explained: “What, of course, will not happen, is that there will be any reconciliation with his older brother, William.
“Harry and his wife Meghan have not taken any pains to withdraw the unkind, cruel and entirely bogus allegations that they’ve made, particularly against the Princess of Wales now undergoing her own treatment for cancer.
“You would have thought that they might have done that, but they haven’t done it.”
