Prince William sent a last-minute text message to his estranged younger brother Prince Harry that potentially prevented an all-out war from exploding from within the Royal Family.
On September 10, 2022, the brothers presented a united front on the Long Walk in Windsor, where they viewed floral tributes and met people who had gathered to pay their respects following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Pictures of the two couples walking side-by-side may have come as a surprise at the time due to the reported bitterness that existed between them.
However, it soon emerged William had sent a last-gasp text message to Harry to invite him and Meghan Markle to join him and his wife Princess Kate on the Long Walk.
This was significant as it marked the first time the “Fab Four” had been seen publicly together since the Sussexes relocated to the US after stepping down as senior working members of the British Royal Family.
William and Kate had been due to meet well-wishers and view the floral tributes before the Prince of Wales sent a late text message offering Harry and Meghan an invitation to join them, a source told the Daily Mail.
The walkabout had originally been planned for 4.30pm on that day but was reportedly delayed by 45 minutes as the two brothers communicated with one another.
A well-placed source told the paper at the time: “It happened very quickly – remarkable really considering they didn’t see each other in Scotland.”
William’s gesture to Harry “was not done on the direction of their father as was being widely reported” with a royal source adding such suggestions were “absolutely not the case”.
In addition, a source said suggestions the Prince of Wales made the move after hearing his younger brother was planning to undertake his own walkabout with a film crew were “complete b******s”.
It is understood William had already mentioned the prospect of viewing flowers and meeting well-wishers with Harry before he sent the late text message to his younger sibling – something that was said to have been acknowledged by the Duke of Sussex.
However, relations between William and Harry have seemingly turned increasingly bitter over the past year, with some royal experts doubting if they will ever reconcile.
Harry and Meghan made several claims against the British Royal Family in their Netflix documentary series last December, with the prince making further claims just four weeks later in his tell-all memoir, Spare.
The Duke of Sussex attended the Coronation of his father King Charles III in the UK in June – without Meghan – but reportedly didn’t talk on the day, with Harry flying back to Montecito immediately after the ceremony at Westminster Abbey.
Last week, Harry returned to the UK to attend the WellChild Awards charity event in London.
But the following day, the duke and his brother were miles apart in different parts of the UK as they remembered Queen Elizabeth II on the first anniversary of her death.
Harry then flew to Dusseldorf in Germany for the start of the week-long Invictus Games, which he founded in 2014.
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