Prince Harry wore an awkward smile today as he was forced to watch the Coronation of King Charles III from his relegated seat in the third row – while his brother Prince William took centre stage alongside a radiant Kate Middleton. 

The Duke of Sussex, 38, seemed keen to put on a jovial display at Westminster Abbey amid ongoing speculation of the Royal Family’s inner turmoil following the release of his bombshell memoir Spare.

Wearing medals pinned to his suit jacket, he had been seen laughing and smiling as he entered the royal church alongside Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice and their respective husbands Jack Brooksbank and Edo Mapelli Mozzi.

He awkwardly nodded at other guests as he endured a solo walk down the aisle to take his seat next to his cousins ahead of the arrival of his father and soon-to-be Queen Camilla. 

Harry had not been seen for over 24 hours after his arrival and accommodation plans remained shrouded in secrecy – before it emerged he had flown into the UK on a commercial American Airlines flight on Friday morning. 

It comes after it was reported today that the King’s youngest son, who was expected to stay at Frogmore Cottage overnight, is invited to lunch at Buckingham Palace today following the historic service. 

It is not yet known, however, if the Duke will accept, given that he is expected to rush back to California to reunite with his wife Meghan Markle to celebrate their son Archie’s fourth birthday. 

The invitation will be seen by many as an olive branch from Charles after Harry’s explosive memoir Spare left several members of the Royal Family reeling – most notably his brother Prince William.

A Sky News narrator said: ‘The Palace have told us that Prince Harry has been invited back to Buckingham Palace this afternoon. 

‘They would not say whether he has said yes or not, we know it’s a flying visit.’ Reporter Kay Burley later said the invitation was to ‘lunch.’ 

It comes after it was revealed today that Harry – who is fifth in line to the throne – had been relegated to the third row inside the abbey for the service. 

He is seated between Princess Eugenie’s husband Jack Brooksbank and Princess Alexandra, the cousin of the late Queen who has not worked as a royal for 10 years. They are joined by Prince Andrew’s daughters Eugenie, 33, and Beatrice, 34, and her husband Edo Mapelli Mozzi. 

A lip reader told MailOnline that Harry told Mr Brooksbank that something was ‘lovely’ after arriving at the abbey. 

Jacquie Presser revealed what she thought the Prince said to Princess Eugenie’s husband during the exchange.

Presser said the conversation appeared light-hearted as they waited for the historic occasion to begin. 

She claimed the Prince smiled at Mr Brooksbank and said ‘That’s funny, mmm interesting’ before they discussed an upcoming event in the day, suggesting it might start at 3:45pm.

Also in the third row, at the other end from Harry, was the Duke of York, who stopped using the title His Royal Highness in an official capacity in January 2022. He wore his Order of the Garter robe.

William and Kate are in the front row at the abbey for the historic ceremony, with their children Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

Their youngest child, Prince Louis, who recently turned five, will take his seat after processing through the abbey, but will retire once the ceremony begins.

Only the other senior working royals will have a front row seat, made up of the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh – Edward and Sophie – and their children Lady Louise and James the Earl of Wessex, as well as the ever-popular Princess Anne and her husband Tim Laurence. 

A source told the Sun: ‘There were discussions that the seating could be arranged on line of succession. But that would have put fifth-in-line Harry front and centre — and with William and Kate.

‘Instead the decision was working royals only at the front and work back from there. Harry will be a long way from his father.’

Sources previously told the Mail there were ‘no plans’ for Harry to join the Royal Family on the Palace balcony or to even appear in official photos.

It emerged today that the Duke jetted into the UK on a commercial flight on Friday morning, leaving passengers gobsmacked. 

The King’s son arrived from Los Angeles on American Airlines flight AA136, which landed at 11.23am at London Heathrow yesterday.

Sources this week stressed that Harry will be ‘in and out of the UK in 24 hours’. He plans to dash back straight after the two-hour ceremony to be with Meghan Markle for their son Archie’s fourth birthday. 

He was expected to spend a final evening at Frogmore Cottage last night after his father decided to evict him and his American wife just days after the release of his memoir Spare.

As was widely expected, it was confirmed by the Palace this morning that Harry and Andrew will be mere spectators to the historic Coronation Ceremony given that they are no longer working royals. 

The two men will also be absent from the procession behind the Gold State Coach that will carry the newly crowned King and Queen to the Palace after the ceremony.

It means they will miss out, too, on stepping out onto the balcony at the Palace for a traditional photo op following the service.  

All eyes are on Harry as he faces his relatives in public for the first time since he criticised Charles, Camilla and the Prince and Princess of Wales in his explosive tell-all book. 

Insiders last night said they could not rule out him having an unplanned heart-to-heart with his father after arriving to the UK.

‘Of course you can never say never,’ said one. ‘Anything is possible, especially with him. And His Majesty loves his son despite everything.’ But others felt that this was extremely unlikely.

‘To be honest it seems a bit pointless him being there. His place in the pecking order couldn’t be clearer,’ another source told the Mail.

‘Attending is probably the right thing for him to do in the long run. He can at least say he came and made the effort to be with his father on his big day… But the red carpet is most definitely not being rolled out and, as it stands, he will just be another member of the congregation.’ 

Sources last month suggested that other family members – with the possible exception of Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie – had no interest in talking with Harry at the Coronation beyond the most basic of greetings. 

It came after the prince publicly called on his family to apologise to himself and Meghan for what they saw as slights against them. 

He also demanded that his father and brother sit down with him before May 6 to thrash their issues out – a meeting which never came to fruition.

Adding fuel to the fire, Harry also indicated he has enough material to fill another book, which is likely to make the royals wary of encountering him.

He is set to make a quick exit after the Coronation, flying back to the US to mark Archie’s birthday, and is expected to attend only the abbey ceremony.

Sources previously said the decision by Meghan to remain in California had come as a relief in some circles, following fears her presence could have heightened family tensions.

It is also understood there was real concern in the Sussex camp about the public reception the couple would have received if they attended the Coronation together.

Friends, including Meghan’s biographer Omid Scobie, suggested her decision was largely due to the Coronation falling on the same day as Archie’s fourth birthday.

The couple had delayed answering their invitation for weeks, causing difficulties for organisers tasked with complex seating plans, transport and security for senior members of the Royal Family, world leaders and other dignitaries.

Sources described the negotiations as a game of ‘transatlantic ping pong’, and Harry was said to have wanted numerous assurances about arrangements.

Coronation organisers admitted that they were stressed about Harry’s plans and said that it was like ‘trying to communicate with Mars’.

Asked in an interview in January whether he would attend the Coronation if invited, Harry said ‘the door is always open’.

It was then reported last month that the duke would be coming to the Coronation alone, leaving Meghan at home with their children Archie and Lilibet.

Buckingham Palace later said it was ‘pleased to confirm’ the Duke of Sussex will be at Westminster Abbey. There had been uncertainty at the Palace over the Sussexes’ attendance.

Sources last month said Charles was very pleased his youngest son is coming and his mood was described as ‘generally quite forgiving’, however, his brother William was understood to still feel betrayed and angry, particularly by the revelations in Harry’s memoirs.

One source told The Telegraph that the ‘gulf’ between the brothers, who were once as close as siblings could be, is now so large they cannot see how their relationship can ever be repaired.

But their father hoped his Coronation could heal some of those wounds, sources said. 

Sussex supporters said Harry understood that the Coronation is the biggest day of his father’s life and felt it was right to be present, despite his attacks on the family. 

But more than one source confirmed to the Mail that there had been ‘extensive discussions’ between London and California over the issue of Harry’s attendanc.

One said: ‘Harry’s side was keen to find out, presumably because they wanted to rubber-stamp it, what the seating plan at the Abbey is. There’s been extensive back and forth about who they [Harry and Meghan] would be sitting behind if they came. And who would be behind them.’

Harry was apparently quite preoccupied by this particular detail, the source said.

Another source added: ‘This is true. There have been a lot of questions on detail for the Abbey.’

Publications with links to the Sussexes have suggested that Harry had a list of questions for the Palace about what would happen if he attended and wanted certain ‘assurances’, but did not detail what they might be.

When Harry and Meghan came to the UK for Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee they joined other members of the Royal Family at St Paul’s Cathedral for a service of thanksgiving. But, notably and rather awkwardly, they were seated on the other side of the nave from Charles, Camilla, William and Kate.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been shunted away from the main seats as their rift with the Royal Family has grown.

There had been hopes the Coronation could provide an opportunity for reconciliation – but as of last month, members of the Royal Family were understood not to have an appetite for it.

One source told the Daily Express: ‘The Royal Family are focused on planning for the historic occasion and have no appetite or time at this stage to think about reconciliation.’ 

Dejected Tories are pinning the blame on a year of turmoil at Westminster as Rishi Sunak faces a bleak set of local election results this morning.

The Conservatives have lost control of five councils – Brentwood, Tamworth, North West Leicestershire, Hertsmere and East Lindsey – and shed more than 130 councillors.

In more body blows, Labour could end 23 years of blue rule in Medway and the Lib Dems look set to seize Windsor & Maidenhead as Mr Sunak’s party is squeezed on all fronts.  

Although many more results are to come, polling experts said the Tories could yet face the ‘calamity’ of losing more than 1,000 seats overall.

Labour celebrated victories in Plymouth, where the Conservatives had been running a minority administration, and Stoke-on-Trent – a key ‘Red Wall’ battleground ahead of next year’s general election. They were also jubilant about a mayoral win in Middlesbrough.

Party sources boasting that their local elections performance, if replicated at a parliamentary contest, would see Sir Keir in No10.

The swing so far looks to be close to the double-digits that Sir Keir needs to overturn Tory majority.

In both Tamworth and North West Leicestershire there were signs that recent Westminster sleaze scandals had damaged the Tories as they lost control of both councils.

Tamworth’s local MP is Chris Pincher, the former Conservative whip who faced groping claims last summer in a scandal that ultimately led to Boris Johnson’s downfall as PM.

The North West Leicestershire MP is Andrew Bridgen, who was kicked out the Conservative Party last month following his claim that Covid vaccines were ‘the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust’.

As well as their gains in Plymouth and Stoke-on-Trent, Labour held on to councils in Sunderland, Chorley, Halton, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, South Tyneside, Sefton, Exeter, Stevenage, Ipswich, Lincoln, Coventry, Salford, Sandwell, Reading and Bassetlaw.

But they failed to gain Hartlepool despite high hopes they could win control two years on from suffering a devastating by-election loss in the ‘Red Wall’ area.

The Tories held on to a series of councils across England – including Broxbourne, Harlow, Redditch, Basildon, Havant, Rushmoor, North East Lincolnshire, Thurrock and Dudley – but were braced for more losses as ballots continued to be counted on Friday morning.

‘The Conservatives are in a little bit of trouble,’ polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice told the BBC. 

He suggested the ‘calamity’ of more than 1,000 seat losses for the Conservatives – which some senior ministers had forecast but was widely seen as Tory expectation management ahead of polling day – could yet become reality.

A Labour source claimed, if their performance was repeated at the next general election, they would win a slew of Westminster constituencies from the Tories.

This included Aldershot – a seat that has been held by the Conservatives for the past century.

‘Tory MPs will be very worried,’ the source said. ‘This is supposed to be Rishi Sunak’s political honeymoon.

‘But on these results they would have lost a bunch of seats — including one they’ve held for over 100 years.’

The Liberal Democrats held on to Eastleigh, Hull, Cotswold, and Bath and North East Somerset councils and had gained more than 20 councillors by 4am.

Party sources were also confident they had taken control of Windsor and Maidenhead.

From 7am to 10pm yesterday, voters across England visited polling stations to choose around 8,000 councillors in 230 councils.

Results from all four corners of the country began to arrive around midnight, with the major parties on tenterhooks to discover whether they had a good or bad night.

The full results will provide a key indicator as to whether Mr Sunak can stage a revival in Conservative fortunes against Labour.

But Sir Keir’s party seized on their gain of Plymouth City Council as evidence they will be able take seats off the Conservatives at the general election.

‘It’s been a really terrible night for us here in Plymouth,’ said Plymouth Moor View MP Johnny Mercer, who is also a Government minister.

Pointing to a local row over tree-felling by the council, he added: ‘There’s a number of factors at play – locally it’s been very difficult, the Conservative group here has been through a very difficult time.’

Labour MP Luke Pollard, whose Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport constituency neighbours Mr Mercer’s seat, said Mr Mercer was ‘toast’ at the next general election.

As well as their success in the South West, Labour were also celebrating the election of their candidate Chris Cooke as the new mayor of Middlesbrough, after he defeated independent incumbent Andy Preston.

A party spokesperson said: ‘This is an huge result and beyond our expectations. 

‘Taking this back from independents who won it with 59% of the vote in 2019 shows exactly the kind of progress we needed to make in Teesside.’

Earlier, Tory Cabinet minister Chris Heaton-Harris admitted the Conservatives had suffered ‘a bit of a blip’ following last year’s ousting of Mr Johnson and Liz Truss as PM.

The Northern Ireland Secretary said ‘fantastic councillors’ were set to lose their seats but insisted the Conservatives were ‘trying to make sure we win people’s trust back’ under Mr Sunak.

‘We know we’ve got work to do and it is going to be a tough set of results for us — we are in no doubt about that,’ he told BBC’s Newsnight.

Local Tories pinned the blame for poor council election results on the party’s woes at Westminster.

‘Nationally and locally we’ve had a very difficult 12 months and I think the electorate have responded to that and voted as they see fit today,’ Jeremy Oates, the Tory leader on Tamworth Council, told the BBC.

Chris Mitchell, a former local Tory leader who lost his seat on Worcester Council to the Greens tonight, said: ‘The political backdrop of Westminster undoubtedly is a key factor, which we heard on the doorstep.’

Virge Richichi, a former chair of North West Leicestershire Council and a current councillor, said: ‘We’ve been dealt a pretty bad hand over the past three or four years from Boris, Liz Truss and now Rishi Sunak.

‘And hopefully Rishi Sunak will put us on the right track again.’

Bridget Phillipson, Labour’s shadow education secretary, said she was ‘confident’ the party had made progress in key battleground areas.

‘I’m confident we’re going to see progress in those key areas where we need to make gains come the next general election, and I think we have run a really strong campaign that will demonstrate that,’ she said.

Prior to polling day, the PM had predicted a ‘hard night’ and warned that – despite ‘good progress’ since he entered No10 – Tory councillors could yet be punished for the turbulence of the past 12 months at Westminster.

Mr Sunak personally paid for a delivery of 10 large Domino’s pizzas at Tory HQ tonight ahead of votes being counted across England. 

Senior Tories have admitted they could lose more than 1,000 council seats across England – although Labour have furiously accused the Conservatives of expectation management ahead of election day.

Losing fewer than 500 seats overall would be viewed as a good night at Tory HQ, at a time when the party currently trails Labour in most national opinion polls.

Amid growing signs of a late Conservative surge ahead of polling day, one forecast even suggested Tory losses could be as little as 338 seats.

Tory hopes of a decent performance will be buoyed by the fact the local council seats being decided this year were last contested in 2019, at the nadir of Theresa May’s time as PM.

Following a poor performance that night, Mrs May went on to suffer humiliation in European Parliament elections just three weeks later, which swiftly led to her resignation.

But Labour was also failing to make major inroads at the time with an unpopular leader in Jeremy Corbyn.

Meanwhile, polling experts have said that Labour needs to score a victory of more than 10% in the projected national vote share in this year’s local elections to show that Sir Keir is on course to be the next PM.

Sir Tony Blair had double-digit local election vote share victories in the lead-up to New Labour’s landslide in 1997, as did David Cameron’s Tories before 2010 when they ended up in coalition with the Liberal Democrats.

Labour gaining 700 seats or more would be the party’s best local election performance for at least 10 years.

And gains above 500 seats would point to Sir Keir being poised to win the keys to Downing Street at the next general election, experts have said.

But both Labour and the Tories will be keeping a close eye on the number of independent councillors elected.

Success or otherwise for non-party candidates is set to provide evidence as to whether the two major parties are currently garnering much enthusiasm among voters.

As the polls closed last night, a Tory spokesman said: ‘This will be a tough night for the Conservatives.

‘Any Government which has been in power for 13 years is highly likely to lose seats. Independent experts Rallings and Thrasher have said we could lose over 1,000 seats.

‘But if Labour want to be in with a chance of taking office after the next general election as they did in 1997, they need to be making very significant gains as they did in 1995 – the last most comparable election – anything less than that will pose serious questions for Labour HQ.’

Labour sources swiftly rubbished the Tories’ comparison with the 1995 local elections, as they pointed out Scotland and Wales were included in the council elections that year – but no contests were held in the two countries on Thursday. 

They also claimed the dominance of the two main parties in local government had long since ended, with the number of independent candidates having massively increased in recent years.

Shabana Mahmood MP, Labour’s National Campaign Coordinator, said she was proud of her party’s ‘positive campaign’ that ‘focused on the issues that matter most to voters’.

‘This is a cost of living election,’ she added.

‘We have set out the choices we would make to help people through the cost of living crisis, cut crime and cut NHS waiting lists, but the Tories have been silent on the issues that matter most.

‘If the Conservatives go backwards from their disastrous 2019 local election results, the voters will have sent a damning message about Rishi Sunak’s leadership.

‘It’s going to be a long night and the full picture of results will not form until well into Friday afternoon but we expect to make gains and show we’re making the progress in the places we need to win at the next election.’

The Lib Dems are eyeing up ‘Blue Wall’ seats in traditional Tory heartlands at the next general election and tonight’s result will show whether they are on course to achieve that aim.

Gains of 150 seats or more, particularly in Tory-Lib Dem battlegrounds, would point to Sir Ed Davey’s party being on the right path ahead of the general election.

But they will do well to repeat their success from last year, when they gained more than 200 council seats.

Last year’s local elections were held at the height of the Partygate scandal, while the Tories saw their poll ratings plummet further under Liz Truss’s disastrous premiership in September and October.

Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: ‘I have knocked on countless doors in recent weeks and heard real anger and frustration from voters who are sick and tired of being taken for granted by this Conservative Government.

‘Tonight, their voices will be heard.’

Speaking on Wednesday night at an Onward think tank event, Mr Sunak gave a downbeat assessment of his party’s likely performance in this year’s local election.

He hailed the Tories for moving away from the ‘box set drama’ of what went before his premiership, in a reference to turmoil under predecessors Boris Johnson and Ms Truss.

But he said: ‘We should be prepared that tomorrow night is going to be hard for us.

‘Good councillors will lose their seats because of all that has happened over the past year.’

Mr Sunak added: ‘I’ve only been PM for six months but I do believe we’re making good progress. Just think about where we were then and where we are now.’

Sir Keir, speaking to broadcasters on the eve of the polls opening on Thursday morning, said his party had ‘a positive case to tell’ and that he hoped to make electoral ‘progress’.

He said voters could ‘set Britain on a path of growth, security and the promise of a better future’.

On his final day of campaigning for the Lib Dems, Sir Ed claimed lifelong Tory voters were ‘in open revolt against this shambolic Government’.

‘I have never known so much anger on the doorstep towards a Government which is completely out of touch with the British public,’ he said.

‘Former Conservative voters feel completely taken for granted by this Government.’

Council elections were not taking place in all parts of England on Thursday.

There were no contests in London and Birmingham, along with other areas including Cornwall, North Yorkshire and Cumbria.

Polls were also taking place to choose mayors in Bedford, Leicester, Mansfield, as well as Middlesbrough.

Thursday’s local elections were the first time it has been compulsory for all voters in England to show photo identification at polling stations. There were regional pilots previously.

There were reports of confusion at ballot stations over new ID rules, with the Lib Dems complaining that the numbers are ‘significant’.

Some said they turned up to vote with photo ID only to be told it was the wrong type – while others claimed ‘greeters’ were asking for identification and turning people away outside, meaning that records would not be kept.

The craze for #dogsatpollingstations even got in on the act, with one owner creating an ID for her pet.

But the Electoral Commission said their initial assessment was that ‘overall, the elections were well run’.

People were required to show a form of photo identification, such as a passport, driving licence or blue badge.

Other forms of identity that were being accepted include biometric residence permits, defence identity cards, and national identity cards issued by the EU, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein.

Supporters say it is normal to show ID in much of the rest of the world, and the move protects the integrity of the process. But critics argue it could deter young people and those from poorer communities.

There have been questions raised about why bus and travel passes for older and disabled people are being accepted as photo IDs, but that young people’s travel cards will not be permitted.

Lib Dem MP Layla Moran tweeted: ‘We’ve had reports by our tellers of people being turned away at polling stations for lack of correct ID. 

‘That’s just in my constituency so far. Across the country I’m worried this will be significant numbers and far more than the exactly 0 people found guilty of fraud last year.’ 

One Twitter user said they had been unable to use a driver qualification card to prove their identity. The Electoral Commission responded explaining that it was not one of the 20 accepted forms in legislation.

The watchdog’s director of communications Craig Westwood also moved to clarify that expired photo IDs were acceptable – as long as the picture is still recognisable.

‘There is a specific list of around 20 (forms of ID) so I urge people to check that list,’ he told Sky News.

‘If you’ve got an ID which has expired that doesn’t matter as long as it still looks like you.’

He also said that Electoral Commission research found that around 96% of people already have an eligible photo ID.

Annette Hill, from Weston-super-Mare, made light of the row by making her dog Ruby her own photo ID, complete with name, photo, and an ‘authorised signature’ of a paw print.

The 58-year-old, who works in learning and development HR, said her two-year-old golden retriever was making her first trip to the polling station.

An Electoral Commission spokesman said tonight: ‘These were the first set of polls to take place since the voter ID requirement came into force.

‘Our initial assessment is that overall, the elections were well run.

‘Across the country, votes were cast throughout the day and in line with the law.

‘This is in large part thanks to the dedication of electoral administrators, who have worked hard to prepare for today and for the implementation of this new measure.

‘Confidence in the overall picture, however, should not overlook other impacts which can only be revealed through detailed data collection and analysis over the coming weeks.

‘We already know from our research that the ID requirement posed a greater challenge for some groups in society, and that some people were regrettably unable to vote today as a result.’

The spokesman added that the watchdog had already begun work to ‘understand the impact’ of the new photo ID rules.

Campaigners opposed to the photo ID requirement said Thursday had been a ‘dark day for democracy’.

Tom Brake of Unlock Democracy, who is leading a coalition of groups opposed to the move including the Electoral Reform Society, Fair Vote UK and Open Britain, said ‘many thousands’ of people were estimated to have been turned away.

‘Reports from all over the country confirm our very worst fears of the impact of the disastrous policy which has been made worse by the shambolic way it has been introduced,’ the former Lub said.

‘One voter turned away is one too many, but early estimates point to many thousands of people being turned away and denied their right to vote.

‘Too many people were unaware that they needed photo ID or weren’t clear on exactly what type of ID was required.

‘The buck for this attack on democracy rests squarely with Government. This policy was always a sledgehammer looking for a nut to crack.’

Mr Brake said the policy should be paused until an independent inquiry has examined its impact.