Meghan Markle’s allies address ‘family drama’ amid coverage of Prince Philip’s funeral

Two of Meghan Markle’s close allies in the US media helped lead the country’s coverage of Philip’s funeral, and they didn’t avoid talk of “family drama”.

Two of Meghan Markle’s close allies in US media, Gayle King and Omid Scobie, helped lead the country’s coverage of Prince Philip’s funeral on Saturday, calling it a “sad day” for the Duchess of Sussex.

Meghan’s husband, Prince Harry, returned to the United Kingdom to attend the funeral, but she did not, citing advice from her doctor. She is pregnant with the couple’s second child.

In her absence, Meghan sent the royal family a handwritten note and a wreath of flowers, designed by Willow Crossley. The wreath included Eryngium, representing the Royal Marines, and Acanthus mollis, which is the national flower of Greece, where Philip was born.

Ms King anchored CBS News’ coverage of the funeral from New York.

“William and Harry, there’s no secret about this, have had a strained relationship, you could say, since Harry stepped away from his royal duties,” she told viewers after running through the line-up of the funeral procession.

Harry and William’s cousin, Peter Philips, stood between them, though in a moment of apparent reconciliation, the brothers were seen speaking after the service.

RELATED: Meghan marks Philip’s funeral with handwritten note

NOW: A @CBSNews Special Report with @GayleKing, remembering Prince Philip.

The entire procession and funeral will take place on the grounds of Windsor Castle.

At his request, Prince Philip's coffin will be carried on a specially-modified Land Rover that he helped design. pic.twitter.com/7fpQ3MEYR6

— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) April 17, 2021

While waiting for the procession to begin, Ms King spoke to former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown, and raised the spectre of the royals’ “family drama”.

“Everyone’s watching to see what’s going to happen with William and Harry,” she said.

“A lot has been made of them walking behind the casket, and that they’re not standing shoulder to shoulder. They didn’t stand shoulder to shoulder when their mother was buried. What do you make of that?”

“Well I do think that the Queen decided that she didn’t want any drama. And what she most didn’t want was the focus on that,” said Ms Brown.

“I think everybody knew that if the two brothers stood together, there’d be wild conjecture. ‘Have they made up? Are they, you know, how are they looking at each other? What’s the body language?’ And I think it was the smart decision to say, ‘Enough of that.’”

Ms King wondered whether people were “reading too much” into the body language between the pair, given they didn’t walk alongside each other for Diana’s funeral either.

“Well I think obviously, there has been a great deal of tension between them,” said Ms Brown.

“That’s no secret,” Ms King interjected.

“Whether that will get resolved in this atmosphere of the funeral, I don’t know. Sometimes funerals are not particularly bonding places. There’s a great assumption that a funeral is where everybody makes up. Not necessarily,” said Ms Brown.

“So who knows how that will go? It’s a pity that, because of COVID, they’ve not really been able to meet before this moment.”

Gayle King anchoring CBS’s coverage. Picture: CBS

Ms King also brought up the subject in discussion with foreign correspondent Charlie D’Agata.

“For many people, this is the first time they’ve seen Harry in over a year. What do you think the significance of that is?” she asked.

“Listen, a lot has been made about what’s going on between William and Harry, but at the end of the day, this is a family who is grieving. And I would suspect that all the family differences would be set aside on this particular day.”

“You’re right, it’s an image that many here were waiting for,” Mr D’Agata responded.

He cited the Archbishop of Canterbury’s remark that funerals “have a way of pulling families together”.

“They are joined in unity and grief, in respect for their grandfather, in their fondness for the grandfather. And it’s worth noting too that there’s already been some level of co-ordination.

“They both released statements about the passing of Prince Philip, and they did it within a half-hour of each other.”

Meanwhile Mr Scobie, a royal contributor with America’s ABC News, was over in the UK to cover the funeral.

You might recall that he wrote the 2020 book Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family, which explored Harry and Meghan’s side of the story amid their rift with the rest of the royals.

Omid Scobie on ABC News. Picture: ABC

Mr Scobie gave viewers an insight into Meghan’s thinking about the funeral, saying she was “of course supporting Harry” and her mind was “very much on the situation” in the UK.

“We know that she’s supporting Harry in this very difficult week for him, but she’ll also be sad because this is also the loss of a family member for her,” he said.

“She grew very close to the Queen and Prince Philip over the recent years. It was probably her strongest relationship within the family, and those relations then get smaller this week.

“It’ll be a sad day for her.”