After many months of feuding, Prince William and Prince Harry shared a rare moment of solidarity as they bonded over their shared grief, according to a royal expert.

The brothers had been at loggerheads following Harry’s very public criticisms of the Royal Family. But they came together to say goodbye to their beloved grandmother, the Queen, following her death in September 2022. Writing in his book, Charles III. New King. New Court. The Inside Story, royal historian Robert Hardman details a “wry” knowing remark exchanged by the Princes as they walked behind the late monarch’s coffin.

Having performed the same task at their mother’s funeral, it was a moment of shared memories that for a split second brought them together. Hardman wrote: “As members of the Royal Family lined up to follow the coffin in bright sunshine, Princes William and Harry swapped a knowing glance and, according to one royal source, a wry remark about having been here before.”

The first time the brothers found themselves in such a situation was following the death of their mother, Princess Diana, who was killed in a car crash in 1997 while escaping from the paparazzi in Paris. Her car crashed in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel on August 31, 1997, as her driver, Henri Paul, attempted to flee the paparazzi with her and her partner at the time, Dodi Fayed, in the back. All three died.

The funeral was held shortly thereafter and garnered an immense viewership, with well over 21 million people tuning in. Princes Harry and William were just 12 (nearing 13) and 15, respectively, at the time. Five years later, they attended another funeral together when their great-grandmother, the Queen Mother, died in 2002.

In the time since the late Queen’s death, the rift between Harry and William has only deepened. Four months after her passing, Harry released his explosive tell-all memoir Spare, in which he took further aim at his family. According to multiple sources, William has subsequently decided to ‘cut ties’ with his younger sibling and focus instead on his own family and royal duties.

Princess Diana’s former butler Paul Burrell told Closer: “Make no mistake, William is keeping Kate and his family well away from Meghan and Harry. The door of Adelaide Cottage is shut – and there is no way in for Harry and Meghan. William knows that Harry can’t be trusted and doesn’t want any more upset in his family.”

Meanwhile, a source told the Daily Beast that William has placed an “absolute ban on Harry returning in any way, shape or form to the family fold”. And royal expert Ingrid Seward told the Mirror : “William is sensitive, he likes structure and has perseverance. He does not give up easily. His relationship with brother Harry upset him more than he would care to admit. But he found it easier to cut ties rather than allow himself to be continually annoyed.”

Reflecting on William’s challenging year, Ingrid continued: “His father got cancer and Kate had a serious abdominal operation. Later to announce she too had to have cancer treatment. William played both mother and father to the children while he carried on with his royal duties supporting the Queen in his father’s absence. The traumas of the past year have made him a stronger person. He has become the kind of man Diana always hoped he would be. Kind considerate and able to take on whatever life throws at him.”

It is not known when the brothers last saw each other. In his 60 Minutes interview in January 2023, Harry was asked if he “speaks to William now? Do you text?” He replied: “Currently, no. But I look forward to… I look forward to us being able to find peace.” The interviewer pressed on how long it had been, to which Harry admitted that it had been “a while”.

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