Despite having a strained relationship for several years, when Prince Harry and Prince William came together to pay their respects to their beloved grandmother the late Queen Elizabeth, they shared a devastating joke
Over the last few years, it has been well-known that relations between Prince Harry and Prince William have been pretty strained, but the two brothers have put their differences aside temporarily and come together for several important moments for the Royal Family. When their grandfather Prince Philip died in 2021, they both attended his socially distanced funeral, and Harry and Meghan returned to the UK a year later to attend celebrations for Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee.
However, only a few months later, the brothers were brought back together unexpectedly again, upon the death of the late Queen, and they reunited to pay tribute to the beloved monarch. As they prepared to take part in the state funeral for the late Queen, the brothers even managed to share a devastating joke amid their grief.
Harry revealed the small moment of humour he and his brother had managed to find together during this emotional time in an interview to promote his bestselling memoir Spare. Speaking to ITV’s Tom Bradby, Harry explained that as the brothers prepared to walk behind their grandmother’s funeral they both were reminded of when they had done the same for their mother over twenty years before.
“Just recently my brother and I were walking the same route, and we sort of joked to each other and said, ‘At least we know the way’,” Harry explained, adding ” But otherwise, it was very similar. The only difference was the levels of emotion. Because our grandmother had finished life. There was more, I think, of a celebration and respect and recognition to what she had accomplished. Whereas our mother was taken away far too young.”
Prince William was 15 years old and Harry was only 12 when they took part in their mother Diana’s funeral procession, and initially, Harry has previously revealed, only William was due to take part, but Harry said “there was absolutely no way” he would let his elder brother shoulder this burden alone, and noted that William would have done the same thing for him.
Walking behind their mother’s coffin is something that William called a “very long, lonely walk” in a documentary released in 2017 to mark the 20th anniversary of his mother’s death and said it was “one of the hardest things I’ve ever done”. Speaking to a wellwisher in the aftermath of his grandmother’s death, William admitted he found walking in one of the processions “very difficult” and added, “Don’t cry now, you’ll start me” – per Roya Nikkhah, the Sunday Times royal editor.
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