Prince Harry attended the weekend funeral of his grandfather Prince Philip without his wife Meghan Markle. She stayed in the US as she’s preparing to give birth to the couple’s second child this summer.
The frosty relationship between Harry and William has been front-page news all over the world. Yet prior to the funeral, it seemed as though the brothers had started talking in a bid to restore some semblance of peace.
Harry reportedly met with both Prince Charles and William to discuss things related to the infamous Oprah Winfrey interview. Sadly, though, new reports suggest Harry didn’t take the talks well, as he felt ‘ambushed’ by his family.
Though Harry’s relationship with William isn’t good right now, the current climate is not one for in-fighting. All members of the Royal Family were on board with the fact that the past week all about showing Philip respect and honour, and the time to mourn him in the way that he deserved.
Harry & William’s relation
Even though the funeral itself was a very sad occasion, the timing of Harry meeting his family again couldn’t have been better, according to royal expert and author Penny Junior.
“My hope is that if something good can come out of the Duke’s death it will be that it brings the family together. But clearly, there is a lot of hurts there on all sides, and I imagine they will all be feeling apprehensive about seeing one another again,” she said days before the funeral.
“With luck, their desire to support the Queen and pull together for her sake, which I am sure is what the Duke would have wanted, will win the day.”
Earlier in March, the Queen reached out to Harry to try and help in the rebuilding of their relationship. Then, just days before the funeral, Harry reached out to family members himself.
Ignored by family members
According to Mirror, Harry called his father, his brother and cousins Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie after arriving from California. A source told the news outlet that they were actively trying to put aside all tension and issue.
“Despite everything that has gone on and the wounds are still pretty raw, everyone is hoping any disputes will be parked for another day,” the source told Mirror.
Now, most onlookers will have noticed that Harry and William weren’t walking shoulder-to-shoulder behind Philip’s coffin at the funeral on Saturday.
According to several news outlets, Queen Elizabeth had ordered Prince Harry and Prince William not to walk beside one another in the funeral procession behind Philip’s coffin. They were instead separated by their cousin Peter Phillips, who went in the middle.
As per the Mirror, the Queen decided on “each and every detail” surrounding her husband’s funeral. She insisted that nothing would “detract from what the day is about, commemorating the extraordinary life of her husband.”
Didn’t want to stand next to Harry
However, new information from the British press now says that it wasn’t the Queen’s decision at all. Rather, it was William who requested that Peter be placed between him and Harry.
“He’s just doing what he’s told and getting on with it,” a friend of Harry’s told the Daily Mail.
So, Harry and William entered St. George’s Chapel with Peter walking between them. Unsurprisingly, the atmosphere between the brothers was pretty frosty once inside as well.
Sitting together with wife Kate Middleton, directly opposite Harry, William didn’t appear to make eye contact with his younger sibling one single time. Instead, he focused his gaze at Prince Philip’s coffin, as reported by the Daily Mail.
Prior to the service, Harry had been staying just minutes away from William’s house. Even so, they didn’t spend any time together.
Seen speaking following funeral
Sources told the Daily Mail that people close to the Royal Family had been ‘walking on eggshells’ the entire week. In the immediate aftermath of the funeral, there then appeared to be a big sigh of relief since the brothers were actually seen speaking to one another.
Right after leaving St George’s Chapel, pictures showed Harry and William conversing.
The fact that the two brothers spoke following the funeral shows that there is perhaps a glimpse of hope that their bond will prevail. This, in turn, might give Harry and William a fresh start.
Royal commentator Richard Kay claims that William and Harry’s short chat after the service was a momentous one.
“For instead of hiding behind the bulletproof glass of their chauffeur-driven cars, the family walked side by side together, ripped off their face masks and talked,” he said as quoted by Express.
“This could have been a moment of risk, instead it allowed us the first glimpse of the possibility that somehow William and Harry can put their bitter split behind them and rebuild that once whisper-close bond.”
Harry’s meeting with Charles & William
As per fresher reports, a senior royal insider claims that Charles, Harry and William met on Saturday following the funeral. Even so, according to royal expert Angela Levin, Charles wasn’t planning on taking Harry’s side at all after his interview with Oprah.
In fact, Levin claims Charles is planning to “ditch” Meghan and Harry from the Royal Family once he becomes the king.
“Prince Charles has wanted for a very long time to cut the monarchy down to save costs and to make people be worth the money that they got from the taxpayer,” Levin said on talk radio, as quoted by the Express.
“I imagine that might be when Harry and Meghan are ditched from being members of the Royal family.”
Yet talks between Charles and his two sons appear to have taken place. From the outside, it looked as if they were starting to understand each other, at least in so far as where they stand on the current situation.
However, that perhaps is not the case, as Harry reportedly didn’t enjoy their meeting at all.
Harry felt “ambushed”
On the contrary, Harry was ‘outraged’ about the meeting. It turns out that the two-hour sit-down at Windsor Castle following the funeral of Philip was unscheduled, and that Harry felt “ambushed” by his father and brother.
“The meeting after the family laid Prince Philip to rest was not scheduled. Harry felt ambushed by his dad and brother which is no way to start a peace process,” a source told Radar Online.
The same source says that William and Harry had some contact before the wedding, however, it was more “texts than calls,” and their first attempt at patching up their relationship was a failure.
Following on from that, Saturday’s conversations between the two and Charles was “unproductive”.
“Now to you negotiate peace with a couple who are willing to burn the whole place down? Harry and Meghan think they are coming to the table in a position of power and they have nothing else to lose,” the source said.
Harry wanted Meghan present
“Everything, from titles to money to security has already been taken away. If the family is serious about making peace they could start by returning everything they removed.”
At the same time as Harry felt “ambushed”, he also felt that it wasn’t the right time for him to talk about the Oprah interview and all the things that had happened with his brother and father.
In fact, he didn’t even want to be there without his wife Meghan Markle present, according to Radar Online.
Meghan Markle, as already mentioned, stayed in the US because she’s “been advised by her physician not to travel”. She and Prince Harry are expecting their second child this summer.
It could be, though, that even that might not be the whole truth, at least according to the Daily Mail.
Meghan stayed in the US
According to an insider with close ties to Meghan, she didn’t travel with her husband to the UK because of the whole situation following the Oprah interview.
“Meghan said her main concern right now is supporting Harry. She said she left it up to him as to whether or not she would attend the funeral,” the source told DailyMail.
Her friend says she stayed in the US because she didn’t want to be “the centre of attention”.
“Like Harry, [Meghan’s mother] is very protective of Meghan and doesn’t want to see her putting her own health at risk. Stress is the last thing Meghan needs right now,” the source said.
According to Radar Online, Harry didn’t want to make amends without Meghan present.
Kate Middleton wants to be left outside
“Harry and Meghan think they are coming to the table in a position of power and they have nothing else to lose,” the palace source says.
“Everything, from titles to money to security has already been taken away. If the family is serious about making peace they could start by returning everything they removed.”
If speculation is to be believed, Harry and Meghan want to be part of the entire process of fixing the relationship with the Royal Family. One who doesn’t want to be involved in William’s wife, Kate Middleton, who appears to have an even worse relationship with Meghan than William does with Harry.
The beef between the two women started years ago, but the breaking point for Kate is said to have been the comments made to Oprah.
In the interview, Meghan addressed reports of her and Kate having feuded, and said that Kate made her cry at her wedding dress rehearsals. Eagle-eyed reads will know that it had previously been reported that it was Meghan who made Kate cry, not the other way around.
“And I don’t say that to be disparaging to anyone, because it was a really hard week of the wedding, and she was upset about something,” Meghan Markle said.
“But she owned it, and she apologized and she brought me flowers and a note apologizing.”
“And I don’t say that to be disparaging to anyone, because it was a really hard week of the wedding, and she was upset about something,” Meghan Markle said.
“But she owned it, and she apologized and she brought me flowers and a note apologizing.”
“Kate wants what is best for her husband and the royal family. She loves Harry but doesn’t get involved in this sort of stuff,” the family insider told Radar Online. “It isn’t Kates place to decide which family members get titles and money.”
What do you think of the rumours that Harry won’t talk without Meghan by his side? And do you think they ever will reunite with the Royal Family?
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