Harry, Meghan, and Biden are big question marks for King Charles’ coronation

With two months to go until the May 6 coronation of King Charles and Camilla, Queen Consort, it remains to be seen whether Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will appear with the other royal family members on the Buckingham Palace balcony at the event — or whether they’ll attend the coronation at all.

On Sunday, a spokesperson for the prince confirmed to CNN that the Sussexes had received an invitation to the event but didn’t let on how the couple would RSVP.

“I can confirm The Duke has recently received email correspondence from His Majesty’s office regarding the coronation,” the spokesperson said. “An immediate decision on whether The Duke and Duchess will attend will not be disclosed by us at this time.”

That same day, the Daily Express reported that Harry and Meghan face a dilemma regarding the coronation, with PR expert Edward Coram-James saying that attending would boost the duke and duchess’ reputations but would also create “strange optics,” considering the couple’s critiques of the royal institution.

“This is a damned if they do, damned if they don’t scenario,” Coram-James said. “Why would you want to attend the coronation of a man that you have been so scathing about? Furthermore, the Sussexes will know that, for a majority of the British public, they are persona non grata at the moment. In an ideal world, there would have been a good few years in between the release of the book [Harry’s memoir, “Spare”] and series [their Netflix docuseries, “Harry & Meghan”] and the coronation, to give enough time for people to forgive, or at the very least forget and move on.”

On Tuesday, the Daily Express reported that, even if Harry and Meghan do attend the coronation, they’re “unlikely” to join the other royals on the Buckingham Palace balcony “if the King is to follow the blueprint created by the late Queen for her Platinum Jubilee celebrations last June.”

Another unknown is whether President Joe Biden will attend the coronation. A senior administration official told People on Friday that “the U.S. will be represented at the coronation” but that there’s no update “regarding presidential travel or regarding potential delegation at this time.”

Two people familiar with the president’s plans told TIME last week that Biden is unlikely to make the trip. “That does not feel like an event Joe Biden will attend,” one White House official, who requested anonymity, told the magazine.

Meanwhile, Sarah, Duchess of York, revealed at a talk at the 92nd Street Y on Monday that it’s “TBD” whether she’ll attend the coronation, saying that she hasn’t been invited.