Inside William and Harry’s ‘difficult and uncomfortable’ week with ‘no meaningful rapprochement’ in sight
THERE has been no "meaningful" reconciliation between Princes William and Harry despite several joint public appearances, insiders say.
The brothers appeared to be united in grief this week as they viewed flowers left in their grandmother's memory, walked behind her coffin and fought back tears during a historic vigil - but this was reportedly "uncomfortable" and "effortful" for them both.
And behind the scenes, the pair have allegedly seen very little of each other - only once stopping to chat away from the cameras after a chance encounter on Harry's 38th birthday on Thursday.
One insider told : "Their view is: 'We’ll be where we need to be and we won’t be where we don’t need to be'."
Another added: "They are both just doing their jobs and will go back to their own lives after that. It’s all really sad."
William and Harry flew to the Queen's bedside at Balmoral separately on the day she died in what some described as the latest indication of bad blood between them.
READ MORE ON THE QUEEN'S DEATH
But they surprised royal fans by reuniting the "fab four" on an impromptu walkabout outside Windsor Castle.
The pair, with wives Kate and Meghan, viewed flowers and notes left in tribute to the late monarch "to show unity at an incredibly difficult time".
The siblings then stood side-by-side behind the Queen's coffin as it made its final journey from Buckingham Palace several days later.
And last night, they put their differences aside to lead all eight of Her Majesty's grandchildren at a vigil in Westminster Hall.
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Both wore military uniform after their father, the King, granted the Afghan war veteran special permission for the 15-minute event.
But what should have been an opportunity to forget the past was in fact "uncomfortable" and "difficult" at times, a source said.
A second added: "The joint appearances take effort.
"There was an understanding that 'we need to show solidarity', not just 'we need to do this because it’s our duty'. But I don’t think it goes much beyond that.
"There have been some awkward moments this week. I definitely don’t get the sense of any deeper meaningful rapprochement or a sense that this is it: things will be mended."
It comes as…
- William and Harry showed a united front to lead the Queen’s grandchildren in a historic vigil at her coffin
- Heartbroken Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie reveal their ‘tears and loneliness’ in an intimate statement after the Queen’s death
- A man is charged after ‘grabbing the flag from the Queen’s coffin in front of horrified mourners
- The queue to see the Queen lying-in-state will close TODAY
- Two million mourners are set to descend on London for the late monarch's funeral with four billion watching on TV
To make it even clearer that the pair are not on good terms, both are understood to have arrived and left the vigil in separate cars.
Royal author Angela Levin told The Sun: "I just think it's a great shame that they didn't want to talk - if they wanted to talk one of them would have said 'let's do that'.
"It's going to take a lot more compromise on both sides.
"They can operate as a family but if they can't even turn up together, I think it's very sad."
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It follows reports that as Wills was returning from collecting his kids from school on Thursday, Harry and Meghan passed in their car so both wound down their windows to have a quick chat.
Buckingham Palace has been approached for comment.
