No matter how tense things became between princes William and Harry, one thing remained true: the Duchess of Cambridge only ever wanted the royal brothers to find peace.
After all, no one was more welcoming toward Kate when she joined the Mountbatten-Windsor fold as an outsider than her surrogate โlittle brotherโ Harry.
So when Harry and his family jetted in to London late last week, Kate, 40, knew this was her big chance to help heal the brothersโ rift โ and get her old partner in crime back.
โKate misses Harry terribly,โ says a source. โHe was always such fun when he was living with them at Kensington Palace.
โHe was a regular at their dinner table for pizza nights and Sunday lunch and was forever leaving her in stitches of laughter. She finds thatโs what sheโs missed the most ever since the boys fell out.โ
Harry, 37, meanwhile, has long described Kate as โthe sister I never hadโ.
Itโs believed that Kate has tried valiantly to keep their friendship alive even after the family relations became fractured and Harry moved with his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, 40, and son Archie, now three, to the US.
โKate wrote, sent gifts for Archie and again for little Lilibet when she was born,โ says a source. โHarry always appreciated that. He also appreciated Kate keeping him company at Prince Philipโs funeral last year when the rest of the family wouldnโt go near him. When it was just him and Kate chatting away, it felt like old times.โ
Harry, Meghan, Archie and Lilibet arrived in the UK on a private jet on Wednesday afternoon local time, ahead of a festive weekend celebrating the Queenโs Platinum Jubilee.
The California-based family, who had previously complained they couldnโt return to the UK due to security concerns, were at the time of going to press expected to attend the Trooping the Colour parade, a service at St Paulโs Cathedral and a concert in Harryโs grandmotherโs honour.
Privately, it was expected that the Sussexes would introduce Lilibet, who turned one on Saturday, to her British relatives โ including the Queen and Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
โThereโs no way Kate would miss meeting Harryโs baby girl,โ says a source. โIโm sure there were a few nerves ahead of Kate catching up with the Sussexes, especially since Meghanโs comments in the press about the royals left Kate fairly churned up, but thereโs nothing she loves more than a baby, so she would have set everything aside for Lili and Harry.
โKate and Harry were close for more than 10 years โ that sort of friendship doesnโt just vaporise and Iโm sure as soon as they saw each other, just like at Prince Philipโs funeral, all of the tension wouldโve fallen away.โ