Princes Harry and William at Prince Philip's funeral: the start of a reconciliation?
This is the image we hoped for, without really believing it: after walking separately behind the coffin during Prince Philip's funeral on April 17, 2021, Princes William and Harry exchanged a few words at the end of the ceremony. A sign of appeasement?
We had learned the day before the ceremony: Princes William and Harry would walk separated by their cousin Peter Phillips during the procession accompanying the coffin of their grandfather, Prince Philip, to Saint George's Chapel at Windsor Castle , April 17, 2021. A decision not officially commented on by Buckingham, who undoubtedly wanted to avoid giving grain to grind to the media which has been scrutinizing, for two years, the growing tensions between the two brothers. By Prince Harry's own admission in an interview given in 2019, he and William had taken “different paths”. Who were even more distant after his decision to leave his official functions within the royal family, in January 2020.
Relations which have cooled further after the shock interview granted by the Sussexes to Oprah Winfrey on March 7, 2021. In a context of a pandemic, forcing each member of the royal family to keep their distance from each other, the Prince Philip's funeral would they record, in pictures, the quarrel between princes Harry and William?
Kate Middleton's crucial role
It may have taken all the tact of Kate Middleton to achieve this. On leaving Saint George's Chapel, William and Harry together thanked the Archbishop of Canterbury, who performed the ceremony. And it was in the company of the Duchess of Cambridge that they moved away to reach Windsor Castle. Would the latter play a role of peacemaker with the two brothers? Already, on April 21, 2019, she appeared all smiles to Prince Harry during the ANZAC memorial day, shortly after the princes announced that they were separating their royal houses.
The one who is said to have been hurt by the remarks made by Meghan Markle during the interview with Oprah Winfrey (the Duchess of Sussex has indeed revealed a quarrel that had opposed them) would she have passed the sponge for the good of the family? It is in any case by showing great delicacy that she then slowed down to leave William and Harry alone, continuing their conversation. The absence of Meghan Markle, due to her pregnancy, may also have served to level the playing field: pending her possible return to England, the accomplice trio formed by Kate, William and Harry before the latter's marriage was able to reform.
Union above all
The royal family has made it known to the queen: she will stand up to her so that she "never walks alone", and at least one of its members will now accompany her during her participation in official events. . Elizabeth II will be 95 years old on April 21: she must now more than ever count on those close to her. A feeling that undoubtedly touches Prince Harry deeply, who had revealed to Oprah Winfrey that he "had spoken to her more in a year than in recent years."
As she approaches alone, without Prince Philip, the last years of her reign, Prince Harry has undoubtedly been sensitive to her grief. Just like that of Prince Charles, visibly affected by the death of his father. Charles, like Elizabeth II, has not seen Archie, the son of Harry and Meghan Markle, for over a year. No doubt his youngest son will be keen to introduce him to his daughter, whose birth is scheduled for June. So many opportunities to take a step towards more peaceful relationships. Who, for the time of a conversation in the gardens of Windsor, may have already started.
