PRINCES William and Harry and wives Kate and Meghan dramatically reunited yesterday in tribute to the Queen.
The brothers put aside their differences as the four inspected flowers outside Windsor Castle.
Princes William and Harry and wives Kate and Meghan dramatically reunited yesterday in tribute to the Queen
The Princes and their wives Kate and Meghan chatted warmly to crowds
A royal source said: “It was an important show of unity for the Queen.”
William’s olive branch was delivered, and accepted, less than an hour before the “Fab Four” gathered outside Windsor Castle.
Only William and Kate — newly appointed Prince and Princess of Wales — were expected to meet the public from 4.30pm.
But the walkabout was delayed until 5.15pm to include Harry and Meghan.
The brothers had barely spoken for 2½ years after the Sussexes left for the US.
And it was the first time the couples have been seen in public as a foursome since Commonwealth Day in March 2020.
Yesterday shocked crowds cheered Harry, 37, and there were no boos for him or Meghan after the quartet stepped out on to the Long Walk.
A senior Palace source said: “The Prince of Wales invited the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to join him and the Princess of Wales earlier.
“The Prince of Wales thought it was an important show of unity for the Queen at an incredibly difficult time for the family.”
But it is understood past wounds haven’t fully healed, and the walkabout was more a temporary truce.
Well-wisher Winnie Davidge, 13, from Godalming, Surrey asked Harry: “Are you missing the Queen?” He replied: “The castle feels so quiet. You can feel her presence in every room.”
Harry told others in the crowd it was “a lonely place up there now without her”.
Banita Ranow, 28, said she heard Kate tell children next to her about what her youngest son Louis, four, had said about the Queen’s death.
She said Kate told them: “Louis said at least Granny is with great grandpa (Philip) now.”
As the crowd applauded, a nervous-looking Meghan, 41, held Harry’s hand for reassurance
A royal source said: ‘It was an important show of unity for the Queen’
Ms Ranow said Kate was “welling up” as she spoke to the children.
Her mother Baljinder Ranow, 64, said: “I felt so emotional. The Queen would have loved it.
“I just hope in the future they remain like that and that the brothers come together, and the families.”
Crowds had queued for hours and crammed ten-deep at barriers in hope of seeing the royals.
The quartet initially appeared strained as they turned left through the gate to look at the thousands of flowers.
As the crowd applauded, a nervous-looking Meghan, 41, held Harry’s hand for reassurance.
The brothers had barely spoken for 2½ years after the Sussexes left for the US
William’s olive branch was delivered, and accepted, less than an hour before the ‘Fab Four’ gathered outside Windsor Castle
Harry shook hands with four-year-old Emily Stamp from Molesey, Surrey, perched on the shoulders of her aunt Katherine Stamp.
Meghan told the little girl: “Thank you, sweetheart.”
Mum Jacqui Carbery, 48, of Bourne End, Bucks, who spoke to William, said: “I told him I was so sorry for his family’s loss.
“I told him his grandmother was such a remarkable woman.
“He said to me, ‘It’s difficult to put into words how much she meant to me and to everyone’.”
Prince of peace
Retired nanny Diane Bishop, 54, from Twickenham, South West London, said: “Harry asked me my name which I felt a bit awkward about. After I said Diane, he just smiled and laughed.
“I shook hands with Meghan and asked her how the children were.
“She said they were doing great. To see them all together was such a shock. But hopefully it means they’ve now buried the hatchet.”
At one stage Kate tenderly touched William’s back, and Meghan did the same with Harry as they read heartfelt notes among the flowers.
William chatted cordially to Meghan and appeared to lead all four in waving goodbye to the crowds.
He told them: “Thank you everyone, thank you so much.”
