As far as family reunions go, it doesn’t get more poignant than Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, returning to England to face the music at Windsor Castle.
Woman’s Day is told the couple’s 24-hour stopover – during which they met with the Queen, Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall – on their way to the Netherlands had been locked in “for some months”, and that the whole family had been informed of their plans.
So it was a surprise to palace advisers when 37-year-old Harry’s older brother Prince William curtly informed them he wouldn’t make himself available for the visit.
It’s understood that William and his family were skiing in France while Harry and Meghan were in the UK.
(Image: Getty)Instead, Wills, 39, and his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, 40, were spotted skiing in France, and returned to the UK mere hours after Harry and Meghan departed.
“This diary clash wasn’t an accident,” a source tells.
“William felt that while the Queen and his father might be ready to forgive Harry for all his recent attacks on the family, he himself is not even close to breaking bread with his brother. Wills made sure there was no chance of running into Harry and Meghan at Windsor Castle by skipping town.”
Offering an insight into the extent of the royal rift, Harry recently made headlines for dodging a question about whether he missed his family during an interview on US morning show Today.
“Yes, I think especially over the last two years, everybody has missed their family and that ability to get home and see them, of course,” he said.
However, when host Hoda Kotb followed up by asking if he specifically missed his brother William and dad Charles, he swiftly changed the subject, before talking about missing his children, Archie, two, and Lilibet, 10 months, back home in California.
“Look, I mean for me, at the moment, I’m here focused on these guys and these families and giving everything and giving 120 per cent to them,” he said of the Invictus Games athletes.
When asked if he specifically missed his brother William and dad Charles, Prince Harry swiftly changed the subject in a recent interview.
(Image: Getty)Amid whispers that Charles, 73, is now considering the Sussexes’ plea to be “part-time royals”, it’s probably a good thing William had put the English Channel between himself and his family.
Sources maintain William can’t quite believe Charles’ response and insist it has triggered all sorts of anger in him.
“If in fact his grandmother and father welcome Harry back into the fold, despite all the harm that’s been done, it’s William who is going to be burdened with Harry when he ascends the throne,” says an insider.
