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 “little brother” 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 brothers’ rift – and get her old partner in crime back.
Harry considered Kate the sister he never had.
(Image: Getty)“Kate misses Harry terribly,” says a source. “He was always such fun when he was living with them at Kensington Palace.
“He was a regular at their dinner table for pizza nights and Sunday lunch and was forever leaving her in stitches of laughter. She finds that’s what she’s missed the most ever since the boys fell out.”
Harry, 37, meanwhile, has long described Kate as “the sister I never had”.
“Kate misses Harry terribly.”
(Image: Getty)It’s 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.
“Kate wrote, sent gifts for Archie and again for little Lilibet when she was born,” says a source. “Harry always appreciated that. He also appreciated Kate keeping him company at Prince Philip’s funeral last year when the rest of the family wouldn’t go near him. When it was just him and Kate chatting away, it felt like old times.”
Kate will meet Lilibet while Harry and his family are in the UK for the Queen’s Jubilee.
(Image: Getty)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 Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
The California-based family, who had previously complained they couldn’t 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 Paul’s Cathedral and a concert in Harry’s grandmother’s honour.
Privately, it was expected that the Sussexes would introduce Lilibet, who turned one on Saturday, to her British relatives – including the Queen and Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
“There’s no way Kate would miss meeting Harry’s baby girl,” says a source. “I’m sure there were a few nerves ahead of Kate catching up with the Sussexes, especially since Meghan’s comments in the press about the royals left Kate fairly churned up, but there’s nothing she loves more than a baby, so she would have set everything aside for Lili and Harry.
“Kate and Harry were close for more than 10 years – that sort of friendship doesn’t just vaporise and I’m sure as soon as they saw each other, just like at Prince Philip’s funeral, all of the tension would’ve fallen away.”
