Queen dies: William, Kate, Harry and Meghan reunite at Windsor castle
A last-minute call resulted in the warring Waleses and Sussexes putting their differences aside to greet crowds at Windsor Castle: their first joint public appearance since 2020.
The olive branch has been extended, and it has been received, with the warring Waleses and Sussexes coming together to greet crowds mourning the death of the Queen outside Windsor Castle on Saturday.
The princes’ father King Charles III in his first speech to the nation spoke of his love for his youngest son, Harry and his wife Meghan. A day later, William, the new Prince of Wales, rang his young brother Harry and invited him, “at the 11th hour”, according to Sussex sources, to join him and Catherine in a 40-minute walkabout after the King’s proclamation.
This was the first time the four have been out in public together for more than two years.
There was a frosty Commonwealth Day service on March 9, 2020 and since then a bruising and deteriorating relationship.
One well wisher reported told reporters: “We couldn‘t believe it when the gates opened, and we saw William and Harry walk down with Meghan and Kate. I’ll be honest there was a little bit of a groan when Harry and Meghan came down our side, but I passed him a bunch of flowers and he was happy to take them. I’m pleased that they came out together and as a family I’m delighted that they all took the time to come and say hello to the crowds. Sad things like funerals bring families together so I hope that when they get back to California they think long and hard about everything that’s happened.”
The two brothers walked out of the castle gates and strode side by side with their wives each positioned on the outside, breaking off to talk to people in Windsor. Harry and Meghan held hands for most of the time while talking to the crowd.
The truce comes as other members of the royal family also greeted crowds at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. The Queen’s granddaughter Princess Eugenie was very upset while her father, exiled Prince Andrew, told one well-wisher: ‘‘We’ve been allowed one day, now we start the process of handing her on.”
Princess Anne, and Prince Edward were also there with their spouses and other grandchildren of the Queen after attending a prayer service at Crathie Kirk.
All the while King Charles and Queen Camilla greeted well-wishers at Clarence House, waving and shaking hands. Camilla even patted one dog, a King Charles spaniel.
Earlier William had paid an emotional tribute to his late ‘‘Grannie’’, describing an extraordinary leader, whose commitment to the country, the realms and the Commonwealth was absolute.
William added: “My grandmother famously said that grief was the price we pay for love. All of the sadness we will feel in the coming weeks will be testament to the love we felt for our extraordinary Queen. I will honour her memory by supporting my father, the King, in every way I can.”
In his first speech to the nation, before Saturday’s proclamation, Charles announced new titles for William and Catherine, as the Prince and Princess of Wales, and confirmed that the lucrative $1.8 billion 52,000 hectare Duchy of Cornwall estate, first created nearly 700 years ago by Edward III will be theirs as heir.
Crucially he then added: “I want also to express my love for Harry and Meghan as they continue to build their lives overseas.”
Charles has been desperately bewildered and hurt by Harry and Meghan’s continual vicious sniping from Montecito – the latest only a week from Meghan, in an ill-timed fashion shoot, claiming Harry, 37, was “lost“ from his father.
Palace aides have been incredulous as to why Harry and 41-year-old Meghan thought it may have been appropriate to both rush to Balmoral to be beside the Queen at the most dramatic constitutional moment in seven decades.
Charles, 73, reportedly put a firm end to this, telling Harry that it was highly inappropriate for Meghan to be there and she decamped to Frogmore Cottage while Harry continued on alone.
The Sussexes were in the United Kingdom on a rare tour of their own agenda to attend a charity event having not even informed senior Royals of their intent.
Crucially they had not accepted an open invitation from the Queen to visit her in Balmoral for the northern summer.
Just why Harry, who was close to the Queen, preferred flying by private jet to play polo in recent weeks than head to the magnificent heather-strewn highlands to give his ailing grandmother a chance to see the little ones, Archie three and Lilibet, one, was unclear.
But William has set aside his fury at Harry’s unloading of perceived grievances to Oprah and Meghan for her alternative version of various events, even though he is wary of even talking to his brother lest anything is taken out of context, for Harry‘s soon to be released memoirs.
So royal observers weren’t surprised to see that the jet which scrambled William, his uncles Andrew and Edward and Edward’s wife Sophie – one of the closest confidantes to the Queen – from North London to Aberdeen in the early afternoon on Thursday didn’t include Harry.
Harry wasn’t summoned at all, but he decided to hire a private jet, arriving 90 minutes after the official announcement of the Queen’s death had been relayed to the public.
William hadn’t made it in time either, but the optics of the brothers arriving and then leaving Balmoral Castle the next morning hours apart was not lost on anyone.
For here was the same castle where the brothers had been on summer holidays and learnt of the death of their mother Diana, Princess of Wales, a quarter of a century ago.
But after further urging from Charles on Saturday, William followed through to include the Sussexes on the public outing.
So much has changed since the happy days of Harry’s wedding to Meghan at Windsor Castle in 2018.
In a recently published article in the Cut magazine, Meghan said “just by existing we were upsetting the dynamic of the hierarchy”, fanned further flames of racism and noted it was taking a lot of effort to forgive the royals.
Harry is now in an situation where he may re-think the publication of his memoirs, which have been written and due to be published later this year. The fact Harry agreed to write a book raised eye brows in the first place, and it was always considered ill-timed for anything to be published in the year of the Queen’s platinum jubilee.
Now with his father’s coronation not scheduled before early next year, Harry has to consider the fall out of his “truth-bombs’’ and his ongoing relationship with his brother and father.
At the same time the veiled threats by Meghan, who announced she had suddenly discovered her journal, has to be rowed back as well.
Perhaps Charles, has in his authority the biggest incentive of all for Meghan to adjust her outlook.
Their children can now be titled Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet because under protocols established by King George V in 1917, the children and grandchildren of a sovereign have the automatic right to the title HRH. That they weren’t given this in the first place had nothing to do with racism – as Meghan claimed on Oprah – but was a century-old tradition.
But now as King, Charles can also issue a Letters Patent amending and stripping back these rights if he so desires.
All may depend on what happens in the coming days up to and including the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
More Coverage
Add your comment to this story
Torture, burning, murder: just the tip of the iceberg in PNG
The case of a young woman horrifically tortured in front of a group of men before being murdered is significant not because it’s unusual but because it is all too common.
Horrific mob murder spotlights soaring tribal ‘witch’ violence
In a country awash with Australian police funding, why are so many Papua New Guinean women dying such brutal deaths?
To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? Register
Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout