Prince William and Prince Harry are reuniting in grief for the Queen’s lying-in-state, raising hopes that the royal family could further unite and heal their rift.
The brothers, along with the King, will follow the coffin on foot from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall on Tuesday, where the Queen will lie in state.
The procession will leave the palace at 2.22pm and is expected to arrive at Westminster Hall at 3pm.
Relations between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the rest of the family have been strained since the couple stepped back from royal duties in 2020 and moved to California, and then gave a bombshell interview to Oprah Winfrey.
But the death of the Queen has seen the royals come together, and last night there was another show of togetherness.
Harry and Meghan were seen standing beside the King inside Buckingham Palace to receive the Queen’s coffin after it made the journey across London from RAF Northolt in the new state hearse.
As it travelled, sections of busy roads like the A40 came to a stop with drivers standing and watching by the central reservation as the public lined the pavements. At moments there was applause and cheers and flowers were thrown into the path of the hearse.
When it neared the Palace, three cheers went up and some people lit up the area with the torches on their phones, holding them above their heads.
With a glass roof and large side windows, the hearse has been designed to give members of the public a clear view.
It features interior lights that shone brightly in the gloomy London evening as they illuminated the coffin draped in a royal standard with a wreath of Balmoral blooms.
Also there to receive the coffin at the Palace were the rest of the family, including the Queen Consort, the new Prince and Princess of Wales, the Earl and Countess of Wessex and their children Lady Louise and James, Viscount Severn, the Duke of York and his daughters Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice.
William and Harry were set to be reunited this afternoon as they walked behind the coffin with other senior royals as it makes its way along the Mall, past Horse Guards Parade and down Whitehall to arrive at Westminster Hall where the Queen will lie in state until her funeral.
Meghan was expected to make the journey by car along with family members including the Queen Consort, Kate and Sophie.
The brothers also came together with their wives outside Windsor Castle on Saturday to see the tributes to Her Majesty and meet members of the public gathered outside. It is reported William extended the olive branch to his brother, asking him and Meghan to join them for a tour of the floral tributes.
It was the first time the brothers had been seen together in public since July last year when they met to unveil a memorial to their mother Diana. Before that they had both attended the funeral of their grandfather, Prince Philip. However, they walked either side of their cousin Peter Phillips rather than shoulder to shoulder.
In his first speech, the King went out of his way to “express my love for Harry and Meghan as they continue to build their lives overseas”.
Winfrey, whose bombshell broadcast did so much to bring the family’s private problems into public focus, said she hoped mourning the Queen would bring them back together. The US talkshow host said the “ceremony” of the Queen’s funeral could be “an opportunity for peacemaking”. The Queen’s coffin was brought from Edinburgh last night on an RAF plane, where it had been lying at rest in St Giles’ Cathedral.
Moments after it had arrived, Princess Anne, who had accompanied the coffin on the flight, thanked the nation for the “uplifting” and “humbling” response to her mother on her final journey to Buckingham Palace.
She said she was “fortunate” to be able to share “the last 24 hours of my dearest mother’s life”, adding: “It has been an honour and a privilege to accompany her on her final journeys.
“Witnessing the love and respect shown by so many on these journeys has been both humbling and uplifting. We will all share unique memories. I offer my thanks to each and every one who share our sense of loss.”
Standing in the Palace’s quadrangle as the hearse arrived was a guard of honour formed from the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards. They gave the royal salute as the hearse came to a stop. The bearer party, from the Grenadier Guards, carried the coffin into the Bow Room, where it stayed overnight before today’s procession to Westminster Hall.
