Many had wondered whether a royal reunion might be on the cards for Britain’s estranged princes. There was a chance at Prince Harry’s trip to London for the Invictus Games thanksgiving ceremony in May, but Prince William was otherwise engaged hosting the first Buckingham Palace garden party of the season, just twenty minutes down the Thames. For a moment, it seemed the brothers might make up when Prince Harry travels to New York in September, at the same time as William’s Earthshot Prize summit—but that was swiftly nipped in the bud after it was revealed that the Prince of Wales had no plans to fly Stateside.
Now, however, we know that the Duke of Sussex made a secret trip to the UK, unbeknownst to press, for the funeral of Lord Fellowes, the brother-in-law of Princess Diana. Also in attendance at St Mary’s Church in Snettisham, Norfolk? Prince William.
The brothers both made their way to the funeral service to pay their respects to Robert Fellowes, who served as a devoted private secretary to their grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth. But reports from sources suggest that there was no olive branch extended between William and Harry in Norfolk that afternoon. It is understood that the brothers sat separately in the church and did not engage in any conversation before or after the service.
The Duke of Sussex had previously stated that he had no plans to fly to the UK for Lord Fellowes’s funeral, but an insider told The Sun that they were “very happy to confirm both princes were there.” If the testimony of supposed eyewitnesses is anything to go by, the Windsor brothers had a less sunny outlook on events. One local said: “William and Harry were both there but we never saw them speak to each other and they were keeping their distance.” Another added that the brothers arrived “discreetly.”
The princes’ relationship has become increasingly strained over the past few years, a result of Prince Harry’s claims that his brother called Meghan Markle “rude” and “abrasive,” and that he pushed Harry into a dog bowl during a fight. The allegations came in the Duke of Sussex’s bombshell memoir Spare, and there were concerns that the recent announcement of the book’s upcoming release as a paperback might spark more vitriol between Prince Harry and Prince William. Per Richard Eden, however, the new edition of Spare will feature no extra information, and Harry will not be undertaking any promotional interviews.
