The sight of the Prince and Princess and Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex coming together to pay respects to the Queen has been hailed a show of unity despite their frosty relations.
Although the couples appeared relaxed and drove together to carry out the 40-minute walkabout around Windsor Castle on Saturday to view flowers and tributes to the monarch after her death, the run-up to the appearance was not without tension.
Prince William invited his brother and sister-in-law to join him and the Princess of Wales shortly beforehand in what has been described as an “eleventh hour” olive branch.
It is thought the Royal Family is keen to avoid anything detracting from the solemnity of the occasion as they and the nation bid farewell to the Queen after seven decades of reign.
But it appeared the walkabout invitation required consideration, with The Sunday Times reporting that negotiations between the two camps delayed the appearance by 45 minutes.
A royal source said the Prince of Wales “thought it was an important show of unity at an incredibly difficult time for the family”.
Experts say the decision of Harry and Meghan to accept the invitation also honoured King Charles, who spoke of his love for the couple in his first public address to the nation as monarch. This, too, was seen an an extension of an olive branch after strained relations between the father and son.
William drove Catherine, Harry and Meghan to begin the walkabout at Windsor Castle, where they looked at floral tributes to the Queen and read messages of condolence from the public, some of whom broke out into applause at their unexpected arrival together.
They greeted and shook the hands of well-wishers gathered on Windsor’s Royal Mile.
It was the first time the couples, once dubbed the royal “Fab Four”, were seen side-by-side in public since the Commonwealth Day church service in March 2020, shortly before Harry and Meghan stepped back as working royals for a more low-key life in California.
The nature of the relationships between William and Harry, and between Catherine and Meghan, has sparked speculation and concern over the apparent distance between the two brothers.
In an explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey last year, Harry said his father and brother were “trapped” within the system.
He described his relationship with William as “space”, adding: “And time heals all things, hopefully.”
“I love William to bits, he’s my brother, we’ve been through hell together, we have a shared experience, but we were on different paths.”
Professor Pauline MacLaran, co-author of Royal Fever: The British Monarchy in Consumer Culture, said the message behind the couples’ walkabout was “to show family unity out of respect for the late Queen and also, of course, their father, the new King who made his affection very clear for Harry and Meghan in his formal address to the nation”.
Prof MacLaran, who teaches marketing and consumer research at Royal Holloway, said the Royal Family would have wanted to “stave off idle speculation about the nature of the brothers’ relationship” to avoid detracting from the period of mourning.
However, it is unclear what the display of unity in Windsor means for their relationship in the future.
Dr Ed Owens, a royal historian and author of The Family Firm said: “We cannot assume the couples are putting their differences behind them”.
“Rather, these images of momentary unity demonstrate that the couples’ desire to publicly honour the Queen’s life is bigger than their ongoing private disagreement. With Harry’s bombshell memoir to be published later this year, I don’t anticipate there will be any great reconciliation at this point in time.”
All rights reserved. © 2021 Associated Newspapers Limited.