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Prince Harry and Prince William surprised the world when they reunited on Saturday to honor their late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.
Joined by their wives, Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, the “Fab Four” were photographed in all-black ensembles, greeting crowds in Windsor, England.
“I think it was a giant step forward,” Shannon Felton Spence, a former British public affairs officer and royal expert, told Fox News Digital. “All of this is a huge step forward considering we haven’t seen the brothers together. We haven’t seen the wives walking together since before the pandemic. And so I think that it’s times like these, in any family, that seem to bring people together.”
Still, despite the giant step forward, Spence said the awkwardness surrounding the foursome was clear to see.
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“It’s a little bit awkward still, you could sort of see some awkwardness in their interactions, probably just because they haven’t really spoken in going on three years,” Spence continued. “But also now that the king has elevated William and Catherine to Prince and Princess of Wales, it is just a different stratosphere than Duke and Duchess of Sussex. And so, everyone has sort of leveled up in their roles, William and Catherine have leveled up and his father and Camilla have leveled up. And I just think that that power dynamic within the family is still very apparent.”
Prince Harry and Meghan stepped down from royal duties in 2020.
(Fox News Digital)
Saturday’s reunion follows rocky times involving the brothers and their wives, and marked the first time the brothers had been together in more than a year. In July 2021, the two of them reunited at the unveiling of a statue at Kensington Palace honoring their late mother, Princess Diana, on what would have been her 60th birthday.
Prior to that, the brothers came together at Prince Philip’s funeral just months earlier, in April 2021.
Harry and Meghan married in 2018 and relocated to the United States in 2020 after they stepped down as senior working royals. The controversial move led to an ongoing rift in the Fab Four, and within the greater royal family.
Prince William and Prince Harry reunited for the first time in more than a year on Saturday at Windsor Castle.
(Fox News Digital)
At the funeral for their grandfather, Harry and William reportedly argued with one another at the family gathering, according to British historian and biographer Robert Lacey.
“There was no reconciliation, and no brotherly sit-down or ‘mini summit’ following Prince Philip’s funeral,” Lacey told the Daily Mail at the time. “The conflict between Diana’s two bitterly divided sons does not seem likely to end any time soon.”
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In Lacey’s book “Battle of Brothers: William and Harry – The Inside Story of a Family in Tumult,” he suggested the two royals had been at odds over Harry’s relationship with Markle. A rift reportedly formed when Prince William voiced concerns over Harry’s relationship with Meghan moving at such a quick pace. Then, following bullying allegations that were made against Markle by a senior palace aide, the rift between the brothers continued to grow.
One royal expert noted a lack of body language between Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle.
(Fox News Digital)
Last week’s appearance marked the first time the two couples had been publicly seen together since Commonwealth Day Service in March 2020.
On Friday, Piers Morgan, host of “Piers Morgan Uncensored,” joined “Fox & Friends” to discuss the clash between the royal family and Harry and Markle, adding that the boys’ late mother, Princess Diana, would be heartbroken over their rift.
Moreover, since stepping down from royal duties, Markle and Harry have remained in the spotlight, bashing the royal family in several instances.
“You couldn’t get a more different attitude than the one of the queen where the queen was always about other people, about service, about duty. It was never about enriching herself because of her status,” Morgan said.
Upon hearing of the queen’s grave condition on Thursday, Harry and William took separate flights to Balmoral Castle. William was accompanied by Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and Edward’s wife Sophie on a Royal Air Force jet, while Harry took a flight on a commercially-leased plane.
Royal expert Neal Sean told Fox News Digital of Saturday’s reunion, “This was a shock to many, however instigated by King Charles as a form of unity. No trust, but a united front and as many will see Meghan was playing the demure royal role. Moving forward, this could come back to haunt the start of the reign of King Charles as the Brits simply don’t trust both Harry and Meghan.”
He also added the that “bigger problem” was the total lack of body language between Kate and Meghan.
“The story is far from over,” Sean finished.
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