Don’t Expect Prince William And Harry to Patch Things Up During Princess Diana Ceremony

The upcoming meeting between Prince William and Prince Harry will be a solemn affair. The two brothers will reunite for the Princess Diana statue memorial dedication ceremony at Kensington Palace, and although the two are in the midst of a royal feud, they are committed to keeping the focus on publicly honoring their mother. In private, however, Harry and William are not expected to hash out their strained relationship, and Harry will be jetting back to the United States shortly after the ceremony concludes, reported Page Six. Anyone who was hoping for a royal restorative justice session will be disappointed.

The ceremony itself will be relatively understated, due to COVID-19 regulations, and only Diana’s closest family members will be in attendance. In addition to William and Harry, Diana’s siblings, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, Lady Jane Fellowes, and Charles, Earl Spencer will be there, along with Ian Rank-Broadley, who sculpted the statue. Rank-Broadley is best-known for his bust of Queen Elizabeth II that graces the English currency.

Also notable are exclusions from the guest list. Prince Charles is out, as he is persona non grata in Diana’s life story. Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, will also not be attending the ceremony alongside her husband. Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, is likely unablw to travel as she is currently in California caring for their month-old newborn daughter, Lilibet.

Speculation abounds about the meaning behind the missing Duchesses, with a source previously telling Page Six that it is intended to cut down on royal drama. “William is determined that the Sussex drama does not overshadow this important moment of remembrance to his much-missed mother and is keeping that as his focus,” said the source. They also called Harry “petulant and defensive,” while William is “not sanguine about how their relationship is changed for good;” obviously, Page Six’s source is firmly on Team Cambridge.

Still, the absence of a private meeting between the brothers may be a consequence of logistics. The media will be in close proximity during the unveiling ceremony, and that isn’t a suitable setting for a painful familial conversation. After all, “the gulf between them is more than the 5,000 miles between London and California,” said a source.