Prince Harry and Prince William have spent the better part of the last 10 days together amid Queen Elizabeth’s funeral proceedings. The two brothers, who have felt the brunt of the family rift in recent years, joined their six cousins as the queen’s eight grandchildren paid tribute to her Saturday in a touching vigil. Both Harry and William wore their full military uniforms at the request of their father, King Charles III, while their cousins wore mourning coats and dark formal dress.
The brothers reunited for one of the first times in public since Harry and his wife Meghan Markle stepped down from their positions as senior members of the royal family and moved to the United States in March 2020. Harry and William were joined by their cousins Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips (Princess Anne’s children); Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie (Prince Andrew’s children); and Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn (Prince Edward’s children). The queen’s grandchildren all stood at her coffin and were “very keen to pay their respects,” a palace source told Entertainment Tonight.
Videos by PopCulture.com
Military veteran Prince Harry was not initially expected to be able to wear his military uniform during Saturday’s vigil, as he is not permitted to wear it during the queen’s other funeral events, but the change of heart came at the hand of King Charles, who requested both his sons wear their military regalia on Saturday for the vigil. A palace source told ET that “it was a decision made without Prince Harry requesting a change.”
William and Harry have been side-by-side throughout most of the ceremonies recognizing the Queen, including during Wednesday’s procession of their grandmother’s coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall and again as the coffin was lying-in-state at Westminster Hall throughout the weekend as members of the public paid their respects 24 hours a day.
The lying-in-state ended Monday before the queen’s official State Funeral Service at Westminster Abbey in London. The royal family then followed the queen’s casket in a procession to her final resting place in St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Chapel. She will be buried with her late husband Prince Philip, her sister Princess Margaret, her father King George VI and her mother Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.
