Prince Harry will come to the King’s coronation but Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, will not be attending, Buckingham Palace has said.

There had been speculation about whether the couple would travel to the coronation but it has now emerged that Prince Harry will attend alone.

Prince Harry will join more than 2,000 guests at Westminster Abbey on 6 May.

It will be the first time he will have been seen with the Royal Family since his bombshell memoir, Spare.

Prince Harry’s book vividly revealed the depth of disagreements with other members of the Royal Family and he has since spoken of feeling “different” from the rest of his family.

The decision for Meghan to reject the invitation will be seen as part of these ongoing, unresolved family tensions.

Prince Harry’s book and an earlier Netflix series had highlighted worries about negative media coverage, particularly towards Meghan, and he had warned of a lack of support from his family.

It had been unclear whether Prince Harry would attend his father’s coronation but there has now been confirmation that he will be at the Abbey.

It will be the fourth birthday of the couple’s son, Prince Archie, who will remain in the US with his mother.

Prince Harry and Meghan issued a statement along the same lines as the palace.

It said: “The Duke of Sussex will attend the Coronation service at Westminster Abbey on May 6th. The Duchess of Sussex will remain in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.”

Neither the couple’s spokeswoman nor Buckingham Palace would comment on the decision.

Prince Harry and Meghan had been contacted by email more than a month ago about attending the coronation.

Until now, however, it was not known whether they would be part of the historic ceremony, joining other members of the Royal Family, public figures, world leaders and 450 representatives of charities and community groups.

As he is no longer a “working royal”, it remains to be seen what part Prince Harry will play in the coronation ceremony. For the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Prince Harry and Meghan did not take part in the traditional appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony.

It is expected that Prince William, as Prince of Wales, will have a prominent role in the coronation – and after Prince Harry’s dramatic account of their falling out there will be attention on the two brothers coming together again.

As well as the coronation service there is a long weekend of public events and concerts which the Royal Family will be expected to attend.

Prince Harry made an unexpected appearance in London in March, when he attended a court hearing in a case against Associated Newspapers about allegations of privacy breaches, but he was not thought to have met his brother or father during the visit.