LONDON – As Queen Elizabeth II and her family say their final farewell to Prince Philip on Saturday, it is Prince Harry’s return to the UK that has attracted much public attention.
Earlier this week, Harry, the Queen’s grandson, arrived in the UK and headed straight to Frogmore Cottage, his home on the grounds of Windsor Castle, where he will be quarantined in accordance with coronavirus rules prior to the funeral.
His wife, Meghan, who is pregnant with their second child, is said to have stayed in their California home on the advice of her doctor.
Harry and his brother Prince William will not walk side by side in the ceremonial procession behind their grandfather’s coffin before the funeral at Windsor Castle, according to details released by Buckingham Palace on Thursday.
This is the first time the Duke of Sussex has been to Britain in over a year and since he and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, stepped down from their role as senior royals and crossed the Atlantic.
It also comes just over a month after the couple gave an all-telling interview to media mogul Oprah Winfrey, where Meghan discussed her suicidal thoughts while working as a royal.
“The brothers will be watched intensively on Saturday. Everyone will be looking for clues as to how they are feeling, how they are,” said Emily Nash, royal editor of Hello! On NBCs. “TODAY” show.
“I am sure that members of the Royal Family will be the most important thing to get on a united front and really show their support for the Queen. That should be a priority this weekend.”
Professional royal guards and family therapists agree that Harry’s relationship with his family, and his brother, William, in particular, has caught the attention of so many, especially given that rifts are common in so many families.
“We forget that the Royal Family is a family and they have the same ups and downs as most of us,” said Victoria Howard, editor of The Crown Chronicles. “When someone dies, it gives you a moment to think and a chance to think.”
London-based behavioral psychologist Jo Hemmings said that as a nation there was a desire for the royal family to resolve the disputes – especially after the death of William and Harry’s mother, Princess Diana.
“As a nation, we want them to reconcile. It feels uncomfortable, frightening and sad, regardless of their rights or mistakes, that these were two boys who were traumatized at such a young age by the tragedy of their mother’s passing that you just want them to be there in one or more get through it any other way, whatever it takes, ”Hemmings said.
“They are not our family, but we feel that we grew up with them because of their problems and their joy.”
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Even former prime ministers weighed the brothers’ relationship and hope for reconciliation.
“The friction we are told has arisen is one that should be ended as soon as possible,” said the former prime minister. John Major, who was the guardian of William and Harry after Diana’s death.
Philip’s funeral “is an ideal occasion,” he said on the BBC, adding that he “strongly hopes that it will be possible to repair any cracks.”
But recent events, allegations and allegations will certainly weigh on the family as it prepares for the most gloomy day for the royals since the Queen Mother was buried nearly 20 years ago.
In the interview with Winfrey, Harry said he had been cut off financially and his father, Prince Charles, had at some point stopped taking his calls. He described the relationship with his brother William as ‘space’.
Meghan, whose mother is Black, also said an unknown royal insider spoke to Harry about how dark their children’s skin would be.
The interview followed the February announcement that Harry and Meghan would not be returning to their roles as working members of the royal family. The couple left the UK last year, first living in Canada and moving to California shortly after. Then the pandemic struck, leaving them with no opportunity to return to the UK and see Harry’s family in person.
William has not publicly commented on the allegations the pair made in the interview, other than a brief one-sentence response to a questioning journalist days after the interview aired.
“We are not a racist family at all,” the Duke of Cambridge said days after Harry and Meghan’s interview aired.
The last time the brothers were seen together in public was during Harry’s final performance as a royal at Westminster Abbey in March 2020, where they did not appear to interact. Their relationship has long been the subject of media speculation, and Harry’s anticipated return made headlines almost as soon as Philip’s death was announced.
The brothers released separate statements about their grandfather on Monday. William said his grandfather would like the royal family to “get to work” and released a photo of his son, Prince George, who is third in line behind the throne, sitting in a carriage with Philip.
Harry remembered Philip as “my grandfather: master of the barbecue, legend of chatter and brutal to the end.”