Prince Harry Actually Didn’t Turn Down an Invitation to King Charles’s Milestone Birthday, Despite Reports

Royal family drama may currently be on the pop-culture zeitgeist’s back burner as we tackle more pressing topics (see: Traylor), but that doesn’t mean that it’s dissipated entirely. In fact, Prince Harry and King Charles III just proved that relations are still as strained as ever by playing a classic game of he said, she said (or in this case, he said, he said) over an invitation to the king’s milestone 75th birthday party.

According to an original report from the Sunday Times published over the weekend, an insider claimed that the Duke of Sussex would not be in attendance at his father’s birthday celebration at Clarence House in London on Nov. 14, despite receiving an invitation. Harry’s lack of presence would have served as a stark contrast to the king’s last major birthday in 2018, the publication noted, when both the prince and his wife Meghan Markle delayed their honeymoon to attend Charles’ 70th birthday party.

Shortly after the report was published, however, a spokesperson for the Duke of Sussex spoke out against the claims, calling the story “disappointing.”

“In response to U.K. media headlines, there has been no contact regarding an invitation to His Majesty’s upcoming birthday," the spokesperson told the Messenger. "It is disappointing the Sunday Times has misreported this story.”

Whether accurate or not, news of the declined invitation comes just months after Harry opted to decline his father’s offer to visit Balmoral on the anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s death. While several members of the royal family — including Prince William and Kate Middleton — commemorated the occasion by attending a service in Wales, Harry reflected on the day alone by visiting the late monarch’s burial site at Windsor Castle.