Princes William and Harry reunited in grief on Saturday afternoon as they watched Queen Elizabeth II lay flowers at Windsor Castle.
The Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex, who were accompanied by their wives Princesses Kate and Meghan, spoke to well-wishers just a day after King Charles III used part of his first address to the nation to try to draw a line under the fallout from Harry’s decision to step back from royal duties.
A royal source said: “The Prince of Wales feels this is an important show of unity at an incredibly difficult time for the family.” Prince William is understood to have invited his younger brother to join him for their first public appearance together since the unveiling of a statue of their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, in July 2021. The pair attended a service of thanksgiving for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee earlier this year, but did not speak.
Their outing came as William issued a heartfelt tribute to the woman he knew as ‘grandma’, hailing her as an ‘outstanding’ leader for the country and a source of wisdom and reassurance for her family.
The Queen’s casket will leave Balmoral Castle on Sunday on the first leg of its journey to a state funeral at Westminster Abbey on Monday, September 19, traveling to Edinburgh where it will lie in state at St Giles’ Cathedral. Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the “poignant” trip would give the public a chance to “mark our country’s shared loss”.
King Charles ordered a UK-wide public holiday on the day of the funeral to allow millions of Britons to take part in a final farewell to the monarch who ruled for 70 years.
From Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, the coffin will be carried in procession along the Royal Mile to St Giles Cathedral. After a service attended by members of the royal family, it will remain in the cathedral for a period of rest until September 13. It will then be flown by the Royal Air Force to Northolt Air Base in London and flown to Buckingham Palace, then to Parliament, where the Queen will celebrate in Westminster Hall.
In the coming days before the state funeral, the coffin will lie on a hearse in the hall, guarded by soldiers from the Household Cavalry and Guards regiments. Thousands of people are expected to file past the late monarch’s coffin during the funeral.
King Charles meets members of the public in London on Saturday
(PA)
From there it is expected to be taken on a carriage towed by Royal Navy sailors to Westminster Abbey for the state funeral, before being moved to St George’s Chapel in Windsor, where the Queen will be laid to rest. The coffin of Prince Philip, the Queen’s husband of 73 years, who died in April 2021, is expected to be moved from the Royal Vaults in Windsor to be buried next to his wife.
After being officially proclaimed king at an accession ceremony at St James’s Palace in London, he paid tribute to his mother’s reign for “its duration, dedication and devotion” and vowed to follow her example of “lifelong love and selfless service “.
In an address to the nation hours after the Queen’s death on Thursday, King Charles emphasized not only confirming William as the new Prince of Wales, but also sending a message of “love to Harry and Meghan as they continue to build their lives abroad.”
His comments were seen as a very public attempt to heal the rift that has grown since the Sussexes’ “Megxit” move to California and their decision to speak openly about life in the royal family.
William, Kate, Harry and Meghan acknowledge the crowds in Windsor on Saturday
(Reuters)
The first sign of differences between the brothers came in 2019 when the couple dissolved their joint foundation when Harry and Meghan moved out of Kensington Palace amid allegations of staff harassment. Harry said in a TV documentary that he and his older brother were on “different paths”.
Two years later, in a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, the Duke described his relationship with William as “space,” adding: “Hopefully, time heals all things.”
He told Winfrey he felt frustrated with his father, who he said stopped taking his calls. Meanwhile, Meghan accused the then-Duchess of Cambridge of making her cry in the run-up to the wedding.
Both brothers went to Balmoral on the day of the Queen’s death. And on Saturday they stepped out of Windsor Castle together with their wives, all dressed in black.
The two brothers shook hands with young and old, accepted bouquets of flowers and thanked people for their wishes.
William and Kate, the new Prince and Princess of Wales
(Getty)
Earlier in the day, the official process of transition to the rule of the new sovereign continued with the accession council meeting to proclaim Charles as king.
In the presence of Prime Minister Liz Truss and all her living predecessors – Sir John Major, Sir Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson – an official read the proclamation declaring Charles III “our only lawful and lawful ruler master”.
The king did not attend the ceremony in the palace’s picture gallery, but immediately afterwards held his first meeting with the privy council in the throne room, where he vowed to follow his mother’s “inspiring example” in carrying out his duties as head of state.
And in a clear indication that he intends, like the late Queen, to remain monarch until death, he pledged to serve the nation in that role “for the rest of my life”.
The king said he was “deeply aware of this great inheritance and the duties and heavy responsibilities of sovereignty which have now passed to me”.
And he added: “In assuming these responsibilities, I will endeavor to follow the inspiring example set before me in maintaining constitutional government and striving for the peace, harmony and prosperity of the peoples of these islands and of the Commonwealth dominions and territories everywhere.” The world.”
Liz Truss signs the Proclamation of the Accession of King Charles III
(AP)
Mrs Truss and other senior parliamentarians, including Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer and Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle, later took oaths or affirmations of allegiance to the new king during an unusual Saturday sitting of the House to listen to the tribute to the Queen.
And King Charles held an informal audience with the Prime Minister and members of her cabinet at Buckingham Palace.
In his statement, paying tribute to the Queen as a monarch and grandmother, Prince William said: “She was there for me in my happiest moments. And she was by my side in the saddest days of my life. I thank her for the kindness she showed to my family and me.”
He added: “My grandmother said that grief is the price we pay for love. All the sadness we will experience in the coming weeks will be a testament to the love we feel for our extraordinary queen. I will honor her memory by supporting my father, the King, in any way possible.’