Meghan Markle to Joe Biden: These celebrities are not attending King Charles' coronation ceremony

King Charles's coronation is set to take place in a few hours from now. Every event of the British royal family is watched and followed with great interest the world over. This ceremony is no different even though it has been heavily downsized to about 2000 guests compared to the 8000s guests who attended Queen Elizabeth's coronation ceremony in 1953.

Royal events are typically attended by not just members of the royal family but by prominent celebrities and world leaders from the world over. Here's a look at everyone who is expected to not attend King Charles's coronation.

Meghan Markle

Prince Harry, Charles' younger son, will be attending his father's coronation ceremony minus his wife Meghan Markle and their two children, Archie and Lilibet. Markle will remain in California. The move comes months after Meghan and Harry's Netflix documentary was released where the two spoke candidly about their strained relationship with the royal family. "Buckingham Palace is pleased to confirm that The Duke of Sussex will attend the Coronation Service at Westminster Abbey on May 6th," the palace said in a statement a few weeks earlier. 

Joe Biden

The White House confirmed that President Joe Biden will not be attending the coronation. However, his wife, First Lady Jill Biden will be there. During a phone call with King Charles, President Biden congratulated the King on his coronation and said that he hopes to meet with him in the United Kingdom in the future, according to a White House readout of the call. Interestingly, no sitting President of the US has ever attended a coronation ceremony in Britain. 

Sarah Ferguson


Charles' former sister-in-law and Prince Andrew's ex-wife Sarah Ferguson will not be attending the coronation ceremony. Ferguson and Prince Andrew have been divorced since 1996 but Ferguson still retains her title as the Duchess of York. She also still lives with Prince Andrew at Royal Lodge, which they were recently asked to vacate. Andrew, himself, will not participate in the ceremony although he is expected to attend it. 

Lady Pamela Hicks

Owing to the downsizing of the event, several British aristocrats and politicians have been snubbed from the ceremony. Lady Pamela Hicks is one of them as it is being reported that the Palace did not extend an invitation to the former lady-in-waiting to the late Queen Elizabeth II. Hicks is also the first cousin of Charles later, the late Prince Philip. Her daughter, India, revealed on Instagram that her mother didn't mind. In fact, she found it to be sensible to base invitations on meritocracy, not aristocracy, and said she plans to "follow with great interest the events of this new reign."

Sir Elton John

Sir Elton John has had a long-standing relationship with the royal family. He was known to be close to Princess Diana, King Charles's former wife. Elton John is also known to be close to Harry and Meghan. Reports state that the 'Rocket Man' singer was asked to perform at the King's coronation. His team confirmed to Rolling Stone that he declined due to a scheduling conflict.

Several news agencies have also reported that leaders from Russia, Belarus, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Syria, Venezuela, and Iran have also been not inviting and hence will not be attending. Leaders from North Korea and Nicaragua were "offered the chance to attend at a diplomatic level," but would not be attending.