Will the real Meghan Markle please stand up? Sir Karl Jenkins revealed that despite the hilarious memes, he was not the Duchess of Sussex in disguise at King Charles III’s coronation ceremony.
“I understand there has been a lot of interest in me since I appeared at the coronation of King Charles III,” the composer, 78, said in a video shared via his official TikTok account on Tuesday, May 9.
“I was quite surprised that some people thought I was Meghan Markle in disguise. Someone wrote I was there to steal the crown jewels,” he added with a laugh. “I look this way all the time!”
The Wales native explained that he attended the coronation because he had “written some music for” the ceremony. Royal Harpist Alis Huws performed Jenkins’ composition “Tros Y Garreg” at Westminster Abbey on Saturday, May 6, and the musician watched from the audience while wearing his knighthood medallion around his neck. (The late Queen Elizabeth II bestowed the honor upon him in her 2015 Birthday Honours List).
However, the music was not what made headlines. Instead, theories ran wild about Jenkins’ hair being a disguise of some sort. He was surprised that people thought his facial hair was fake. “Oh, and my mustache has been referred to in the Times as well, but I’ve had the mustache since I was 18 years old. It was very trendy then,” he said on Tuesday. “So that’s me. Nothing sinister about it or surprising at all.”
The Duchess of Sussex, 41, meanwhile, wasn’t present for her father-in-law’s coronation. Prince Harry attended alone and left London shortly after the ceremony to get back to California, where son Archie was celebrating his 4th birthday. (The couple, who wed in 2018, also share daughter Lilibet, 23 months.)
“As much as Meghan appreciates the invite to the coronation, she wouldn’t miss her son’s birthday for the world,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly last month.
“She feels very grateful to be included in such a special occasion by the royal family and is glad that Harry can go and show support on behalf of their family,” the insider added. “But being the same day as Archie’s birthday, unfortunately, she’s just going to have to miss out on this one.”
The Duke of Sussex, 38, and the Suits alum announced their plans to step down as senior royals in January 2020 and moved overseas later that year. Since breaking away from The Firm, they’ve spoken out about racism and British media manipulation within the royal family. In addition to their bombshell CBS interview in 2021, they released a Netflix docuseries, Harry and Meghan, that covered their decision to leave the royal family. The BetterUp CIO also delved into his past in his memoir Spare, released in January 2023, which made headlines for dozens of shocking stories. Among them, he recalled how Charles, 74, did not hug him after Princess Diana’s death in 1997 and alleged Queen Camilla‘s press team planted negative stories about him to make her look good.
Though Harry returned for the coronation, True Royalty TV editor-in-chief Nick Bullen exclusively told Us on Tuesday, May 9, that the event may have marked “the beginning of the end of the Sussex’s interaction with the royal family.”
The Invictus Games founder was was spotted sitting in the third row of Westminster Abbey. He was not seen interacting with either the king or his brother, Prince William, during the ceremony.
Bullen added: “It felt like the family had sort of put a line in the ground and [said], ‘Right, we are moving forward.’”
