William and Harry won't walk side by side at Grandpa Philip's funeral (and we're sorry)
Among them, as if to ease the tensions, will be their cousin Peter Phillips, son of Princess Anna. The shared laughter, the understanding of looks, the complicity of the past are now only a memory. "Peace" seems increasingly distant
There was a time when they paraded together, inseparable. Although different in character and in the future (one future king, the other a "spare wheel), there was no official ceremony, wedding of friends or relatives, an informal day that did not see them side by side. Harry and William. William and Harry. United in the name of beloved mother Diana. Two years apart (one 38 years; the other 36), the first helicopter rescue pilot, the second in warplanes (he conducted missions in Afghanistan under anonymity), skilled polo players, mutual wedding witnesses.
Their authentic, informal closeness has never gone unnoticed. The shared laughter, the understanding of looks.
All this is just a memory. Today, this is no longer the case. There is no longer the uniform (Harry has been "stripped" of military posts after the decision to leave the royal family), nor the complicity. And now that "the prodigal son" has returned to London for the last farewell to grandfather Philip, who passed away at the age of 99 on 9 April, it does not seem at all easy to find that harmony. The signs on the eve of the funeral don't bode well.
Harry has been landing in Heathrow for a couple of days now, but apparently he hasn't met his brother yet. Of course, the anti Covid protocol provides for quarantine, but no meeting between the two seems to have taken place. The two will meet directly in Windsor, where the celebrations for the funeral in Edinburgh will begin on Saturday 17 at 14. And, as Buckingham Palace announced, the two will not walk side by side. Among them will be their cousin Peter Phillips, son of Princess Anne. It will be up to him to walk in the middle, as if to ease the tensions, during the procession behind his grandfather's coffin from the entrance of Windsor Castle to the west entrance of St. George's Chapel.
Although the seating arrangement in the church has not yet been finalized, William is expected to join Kate Middleton, while Harry is expected to sit next to cousin Peter, who will attend alone after splitting from his wife, Autumn, in February of last year. Meghan Markle, in her seventh month of pregnancy, remained in California.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman declined to explain why Princes William and Harry will not walk in pairs as Charles and his sister Anna will, and behind them Prince Andrew and brother Edward. "All agreements have been made to satisfy the duke's wishes," said a spokesman, as if to stave off the controversy. It seems, however, inevitable not to think (with nostalgia) of the harmony of the past, of that close relationship between brothers.
The Sussex interview with Oprah Winfrey seems to have further cracked the bond between William and Harry. William did not like his brother's words, neither when he called him "trapped" in his real role, nor when he renounced his life as "before". And then the heir to the throne would be hurt by the revelations about their attempts at reconciliation made to the American press by people close to Meghan. William no longer trusts; Harry seems to want to cancel the days in London. No peace seems to be near. What a pity!
