William and Harry’s strained relationship is no secret, but it’s understood that the heir to the throne reached out to his younger brother and asked him and Meghan to take part in a crowd walk in Windsor.
Royal correspondent @SkyRhiannon
Sunday 11 September 2022 03:57, UK
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
On the most solemn of occasions, it was a moment of surprise that for some will have brought a smile.
Two brothers who may have had their differences, brought together again by their grief. A time to show unity at an incredibly difficult time for the family.
I’m told Prince William made the call to invite his brother Harry and Meghan to join him and Kate; they are neighbours after all, both now having homes on the Windsor Estate.
Bank holiday approved on day of Queen’s funeral – latest updates
It was of course purely fate that the Sussexes were even over here, after moving to America and away from royal duties.
But as they stopped and chatted to the crowds for over 45 minutes, they’d slipped straight back into being the Fab Four again, as they were described when Harry and Meghan were first together; back working the walkabout in the way the boys’ grandmother would have taught them.
Watch Sky News live from 10am as a cortege takes the Queen’s coffin from Balmoral to Edinburgh
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
And that was the point, this is what the Queen would have wanted to see. Even in the most tumultuous moment she always said Harry and Meghan were much loved members of the family.
As King Charles said in his national address, his mother had the unerring ability to always see the best in people, and was no doubt the one who held the family together in challenging times.
It felt like Prince William and Prince Harry were clearing the air, both appreciate there are many more planned public moments ahead, and this was a chance to show the Sussexes are welcome.
I even spotted palace advisers, who were there to support William and Kate, asking Meghan if she was okay and needed help with some flowers.
Read more:
Line of succession: Who’s now closer to the throne
King Charles in pictures – life of royal as he becomes monarch
It was, overall, a day when we saw the family publicly coming together and wanting to share that sense of loss with us.
The Queen’s other children and grandchildren attending a service up near Balmoral and stopping to look at tributes, and King Charles again going on an impromptu walkabout near Clarence House. Which is why it wasn’t the day we expected.
In all the planning we thought the focus would be firmly fixed on the formal ceremony of his succession being filmed for the very first time.
Instead, the lasting, more emotive images were of a family wanting to publicly share their grief, and a new monarch who wants to know how we’re all feeling, as like us, he’s quickly had to adjust.
