Prince Harry and Meghan Markle should RSVP yes to King Charles' coronation for their own sake and the royal family's, experts say

• Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been invited to King Charles III's coronation.
• Experts told Insider it's in the Sussexes' and the king's best interest if they attend.

After months of speculation, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were officially invited to King Charles III's coronation, a representative for the couple confirmed to the BBC in early March.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have yet to reveal if they will attend the historic event — where Charles, and Camilla, Queen Consort, will be crowned — on May 6. As of Friday, representatives for Meghan and Harry did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on whether they plan to attend.

The couple's relationship with the royal family has been strained for years, and the release of their Netflix docuseries "Harry & Meghan" and Harry's memoir "Spare" in recent months has only heightened tensions between them and the senior royals, particularly Prince William and the king.

The Sussexes' decision to attend the coronation will be complicated. So Insider spoke to Eric Schiffer, the chairman of Reputation Management Consultants, and Kristen Meinzer, a royal watcher, about how they think Meghan and Harry should respond.

Experts say it's in the whole royal family's best interest if Harry and Meghan attend

Meinzer and Schiffer told Insider it would be beneficial — both personally and professionally — for Harry and Meghan to accept the invitation.

"I think that if they attended the coronation, it would be a way for them to maybe continue any healing that they're hoping to have," Meinzer said of the Sussexes.

She also thinks that Meghan and Harry skipping the coronation could cause them more stress than attending.

"If they choose not to go, I think they know the world will be watching and there'll be a lot of questions about why they're not there," she said. "The main benefit for them is just the optics of looking like they will be continuing to do their best on their end, even if the royal family is not always doing the best on their end for them."

Schiffer said the coronation presents Harry and Meghan with a chance to remind people they are still part of the royal family even though they are no longer working royals, "and that the pain that Harry has shared from his past didn't preclude him from participation."

Experts say inviting the Sussexes was a smart PR move for King Charles

It wasn't immediately clear if King Charles would invite his youngest son and daughter-in-law to the coronation, particularly after Harry released "Spare," in which Harry said his father called him "delusional," didn't hug him after Princess Diana died, and didn't want to financially suport Meghan after she became a member of the royal family.

But Charles did extend the invitation — which Schiffer said is good PR for the king. According to Schiffer, inviting the Sussexes makes the king look like he "is working to bring the family together" and shows "that he's not going to allow what he may see as poor choices by his son to stop what could be a beautiful coronation."

"This shows a lot of maturity by the king," Schiffer said, referencing Charles inviting Meghan and Harry to the coronation. "And it's consistent with what a good father would do."

"I think this could be an interesting inflection point of healing and resolution of past pain and a new chapter that could work towards building a new relationship between the family," Schiffer added, speaking of the historic event. "The coronation highlights someone who has worked to try, despite 'Spare' and other background noise, to bring the family together in a careful way."

Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment regarding Harry and Meghan's invitation to the coronation.

Meinzer said the king made the "appropriate" choice in inviting Harry and Meghan, both as king and as a father.

"He only has two sons," Meinzer said, adding that most people in Charles' position would want their family with them on such a significant day. "This is probably the most important day of your professional life if you're Charles."

"He's been waiting for this his whole life. Even though he technically already is king, the ceremony is the be-all, end-all of it," she said. "It's the moment where the world is looking on, where the pomp and circumstance, where the tradition plays out."

Meinzer also pointed to how Harry — when asked if he would attend the coronation during an ITV interview in January — said "the ball is in their court," seemingly referencing the royal family. According to Meinzer, Harry may see his father's invitation to the coronation as a necessary gesture for resolving their issues. And it could have been damaging for Charles not to respond.

Meinzer went on to say the king has come off as "petty" a few times since taking the throne — such as when he had a dramatic reaction to a leaky pen days after becoming the monarch and when he evicted Meghan and Harry from Frogmore Cottage, their home in the UK.

"To then see that pettiness directed at his own son, he needs to be careful going forward to not look like he's petty and has temper tantrums," Meinzer said.

A coronation invitation for the Sussexes gave the king the chance to change that perception, according to Meinzer. Now, the ball is in Harry and Meghan's court.