Coincidence? The internet thinks not.
Royally invested social media users are speculating that King Charles III’s coronation date was selected purposefully as a diss to his son Prince Harry and daughter-in-law Meghan Markle.
Buckingham Palace announced Tuesday that the new monarch’s official crowning ceremony will take place at Westminster Abbey on May 6, 2023 — the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s son Archie’s 4th birthday.
“So King Charles The Cruel has set his Coronation for the 6th of May next year.. AKA his grandson Prince Archie of Sussex’s 4th birthday,” one of many critics tweeted in response to the news. “Chile how ghetto. I hate it here. Anyway, Harry when’s that memoir dropping 🙃.”
“Imagine you choose your grandchild’s birthday for your coronation and…. He is trending in your country, NOT YOU 🤭 #Archie 👑,” another dissenter noted, while someone else bluntly tweeted, “So the a–hole scheduled his coronation on his youngest grandson’s birthday?”
“Royalists freak out when the Sussexes release a picture two days after the rest of the family or does anything when a birthday pic of the Cambridge kids is released, saying it overshadows them,” another Twitter user pointed out, “but by all means schedule your coronation on Archie’s birthday. The audacity.”
“At first I thought the Coronation date was an oversight; but not anymore!” someone else posted. “The aim is to overwrite any date that relates to the Sussexes with something that relates exclusively to the Crown. That way the 6th May becomes Coronation Day instead of Archies birthday. Not on our watch!”
Some fans didn’t think the decision was made with intention but rather with negligence, with one writing, “So the date was set by the palace and the church… bet no one knew it was Archie’s 4th birthday because no one plans with the Sussexes anymore.”
Though many people expressed outrage, a few didn’t see the big deal.
“Why do people care that the coronation and kids birthday coincide?” one wondered. “Archie has lived in California LONGER than he was in the UK. 🤷♀️ You can count the times The King has seen Archie on ONE HAND.”
The apparent snub comes two weeks after Harry, 38, and Markle, 41, were demoted and had their photos pushed all the way to the bottom of the royal family’s website.
Tensions between the royals and the Sussexes have remained high since the pair stepped down from their duties in January 2020, leaving the United Kingdom in what’s been dubbed “Megxit.”
The couple, who are also parents to 1-year-old daughter Lilibet, had rarely returned to the UK from their new home state of California — until Queen Elizabeth II’s death on Sept. 8.
Despite their decision to show up and pay their respects, Harry and Markle were seemingly slighted numerous times during the late monarch’s funeral, including when they were forced to sit apart from the rest of the family.
Harry and Markle’s estranged relationship with his relatives was solidified when they sat down with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.
During the explosive interview, the American former actress — who is biracial — alleged that an unnamed senior royal had once expressed concern over “how dark” her and Harry’s future children would be. Winfrey followed up by asking the prince if he would name the culprit.
“That conversation I’m never going to share, but at the time, it was awkward. I was a bit shocked,” he replied, admitting that it was neither the Queen nor her late husband, Prince Philip.
It was later reported that Charles, 73, was the person who allegedly made the racist remark about Archie’s “complexion,” though his spokesperson told The Post last November that the claim was pure “fiction.”
Then in July, other reports surfaced claiming Charles’ wife, Queen Consort Camilla, allegedly joked about the boy’s “ginger Afro hair.”