Prince William personally decided to reunite with Prince Harry at the Windsor walkabout after the death of Queen Elizabeth II despite his reservations.
The Waleses and Sussexes displayed a united front at Cambrige Gate on Windsor’s Long Walk a day after the Queen died in September 2022.
The crowd was left surprised as the former ‘Fab Four’ stepped out of a black Land Rover to greet the mourners.
This was the first time Harry and his wife Meghan Markle had been in the same frame as the future King and Kate Middleton since quitting the royal family in 2020.
Writing in his new book about King Charles' reign, royal author Robert Hardman claimed that though the Prince of Wales believed it would be “awkward,” he understood the significance of it at the time.
“It was very much William’s idea,” the book quoted one of Prince William’s closest advisors. “He had organised it in about two hours flat.”
“He had been giving it a lot of thought and he said: ‘I know it’s awkward but isn’t it right in the context of my grandmother’s death?’
“I know he asked a couple of other people, too,” they added.
During the 40-minute walkabout which was filmed all the way through, the quartet did not glance at one another, let alone interact.
William and Kate made sure they attended to different parts of the crowd from that of Harry and Meghan.
The future Queen allegedly later admitted to a senior royal that the joint engagement was the “hardest thing she’s had to do,” according to royal correspondent Robert Jobson in his book, Our King.
A member of the Waleses’ team also told Hardman,“I don’t think either couple found it easy.”