There was no eye contact or acknowledgment between Prince William and Prince Harry as they walked behind the Queen’s coffin. Nor certainly, it appeared, as the 2 princes had been joined by their wives, Kate and Meghan, in Westminster Abbey.
Harry, sporting a morning swimsuit on to which his medals had been pinned somewhat than army uniform, the normal costume permitted of working members of the royal household at ceremonial occasions, saved his gaze targeted forward throughout the procession from Westminster Corridor to the abbey and later at Windsor Fort.
Strolling behind King Charles III, the Princess Royal, Prince Edward and the Duke of York, who had additionally stood out in a morning swimsuit, the brothers had been no less than aspect by aspect, somewhat than being buffered by their cousin, Peter Phillips, as had been the case on the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh final April.
However these on the lookout for any trace of a thawing of the froideur that has marked relations since Harry, 38, left the UK to construct a brand new life in California, casting out criticism of his household as he did, had been to be dissatisfied.
Studiously, the 2 males and their spouses averted any interplay. Their eyes by no means met, bodily a protected distance was at all times saved.
Because the coffin was taken into the abbey, Harry and Andrew, who additionally stepped again from public life after his interview on the BBC’s Newsnight about his friendship with the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, regarded on the floor as different family members in army uniform saluted.
Inside, Harry and Meghan took their seats on the head of the congregation immediately behind King Charles and the Queen Consort, Camilla.
There was the occasional assuring look between the Sussexes. Earlier they briefly held fingers.
However, maybe in response to the peculiar criticism they’ve acquired for earlier exhibits of affection at occasions commemorating the late Queen, there was notably little bodily contact.
The Duchess of Sussex, sporting a pair of pearl and diamond studs given to her by the Queen, which she had worn on her first joint engagement together with her in June 2018, after they marked the opening of a brand new bridge in Cheshire, was visibly emotional at instances.
With a gloved hand, she dabbed a solitary tear from her cheek because the Queen’s coffin left the abbey.
Meghan, 41, had not adopted the custom of feminine members of the royal household sporting a black lace “mourning veil” however the identical may very well be mentioned for Princess Beatrice, the Countess of Wessex and her daughter, Girl Louise Windsor. She as a substitute wore a black cape and costume designed by Stella McCartney and a wide-brimmed hat.
On arrival at St George’s chapel for the service of committal, William, Kate and their kids waited on the head of the entrance pew to permit Harry and Meghan to cross by, earlier than taking their very own locations. Once more, there was no contact or nod to acknowledge a shared second. Princess Charlotte sat between Harry and her mom.
Each effort was being made, it appeared, to keep away from distracting from the state funeral and the Queen’s interment within the royal vault under St George’s Chapel alongside her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh. However a rapprochement between the brothers appeared far-off. The duty of rebuilding of relations little question not made any simpler by the rescinding of an invite to the Sussexes to a reception attended by world leaders on the eve of the funeral.
In the meantime, Harry’s “intimate and heartfelt” memoirs are to come back whereas Meghan has mentioned the couple are engaged on a “historic documentary” by way of which she is going to share their “love story”.