Prince William insisted on a royal walk with Prince Harry and Meghan after Queen Elizabeth's death even though it was “awkward”, a new book claims.
The Sussexes joined the Prince and Princess of Wales as they greeted the public outside Windsor Castle days after the Queen's death on September 8, 2022.
The appearance surprised fans amid reports of a growing rift between the “Fab Four,” as the royals as a whole were known before Harry and Meghan stepped down as senior members and moved to the US. in 2020.
Royal biographer Robert Hardman's new book Charles III: new king, new court. The inside story described the “remarkable scene” at Cambridge Gate on the Castle's Long Walk on September 10, 2022, including details about what happened behind the scenes that day.
Citing conversations with the prince's closest advisers, Hardman claims that the walk was “very much William's idea” because he felt it was the right thing to do for his grandmother, despite the awkwardness of the engagement.
“It was largely William's idea,” Hardman writes. “I had organized it in about two hours straight.
“He had been thinking about it a lot and said, 'I know it's uncomfortable, but isn't it right in the context of my grandmother's death?'
Wales and Sussex on the long walk through Windsor Castle
(POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
“I know he asked a couple other people too.”
The walk lasted 40 minutes, as the couples greeted well-wishers and mourners who had gathered outside Windsor to pay their respects to the queen.
Of their joint appearance, a member of the Wales team reportedly told Hardman: “I don't think either couple found it easy.”
The stroll through Windsor preceded the release of Harry and Meghan's explosive Netflix documentary series and the duke's revealing memoir, further straining his relationship with the royal family.
Elsewhere in Hardman's book, which has been serialized by online mailThe author reveals the moment Charles learned of his mother's death.
Then the Prince of Wales, Charles, was returning to Balmoral Castle after picking mushrooms when he was informed that Queen Elizabeth had died.
Charles, who had been out picking mushrooms and clearing his head after seeing his mother, received the news while driving back to his holiday home in Scotland, when his most important assistant received a phone call.
Charles stopped and for the first time was called “Your Majesty,” according to Hardman's biography.
Queen Elizabeth II's final moments were described as “very peaceful” in a memo written by her private secretary, which also revealed that she “would not have known anything.”
According to the document, which forms part of Hardman's book, Sir Edward Young wrote: “Very peaceful. While he sleeps. Slipped out. Old age. She wouldn't have noticed anything. Without pain.”
