Why Harry and William didn't walk side by side at Prince Philip's funeral
While relations between the two brothers have deteriorated for a year, Prince Harry and William did not walk side by side behind the coffin of their grandfather during the latter's funeral. An important symbol.
It was Queen Elizabeth II herself who asked for it: Princes Harry and William did not walk together during the procession that accompanied Prince Philip's coffin to his final resting place on Saturday, April 17. The two brothers were separated by their cousin, Peter Phillips, the eldest son of Princess Anne and the first born of the royal couple's grandchildren. It was then Prince William, heir to the crown, who first entered Saint George's Chapel at Windsor Castle to attend the funeral ceremony.
Desire not to make anyone uncomfortable? Or, rather, to avoid any image that is misinterpreted by media that scrutinize the ceremony in numbers? In any case, this is what the declarations of a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace, relayed by the Daily Mail on April 15, suggest: "This is a funeral and we will not allow ourselves to be drawn into these dramatic perceptions. . These arrangements have been approved and reflect Her Majesty's wishes. ”
Just like the decision to break the usual dress protocol during royal ceremonies. In order not to underline the fact that Princes Harry and Andrew (still compromised in the Epstein affair) no longer hold official functions, the male family members all wear a regular costume, and not a military uniform as required. the tradition.
"Different paths"
The two brothers have not appeared in public together since March 2020, during the Commonwealth celebrations Mass, during which they had previously appeared cold. Shortly before announcing his decision to no longer take part in the official commitments of the family, along with his wife Meghan Markle, Prince Harry had declared in 2019, in a documentary devoted to the couple's tour in Africa, that he and his brother "had taken different paths." A formula that he used during his shock interview with Oprah Winfrey on April 7, adding that he "loved" his brother and would "always be there for him." Prince William, meanwhile, has not officially reacted to these statements.
The funeral of Prince Philip, which Meghan Markle does not attend because of her pregnancy, does not therefore announce itself as an opportunity for the royal family to ease the tensions that undermine it from the Megxit. And if her members, in close rows behind the Queen since the death of the Duke of Edinburgh, promised her that she would never walk alone, it would seem that her two grandsons, them, will not walk together for a long time.
