A version of this story appeared in a special September 14 edition of CNN’s Royal News, a weekly dispatch bringing you the inside track on Britain’s royal family. Sign up here.
Two brothers reunited in grief. Royal-watchers have been relieved to see the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex standing side-by-side once more as they mourn the death of their beloved grandmother.
It’s been a turbulent two years since Harry and Meghan stepped back as working members of the royal family, with the rift in the clan heavily speculated upon by the public and media alike.
On Wednesday, we will see the pair – along with other members of the family – on foot behind the Queen’s coffin as it makes its way through the streets of central London to Westminster Hall, in a procession like no other.
It will be a somber moment when the city falls silent, the only sounds the tolling of Big Ben and minute guns firing in Hyde Park.
A source exclusively told us yesterday that the brothers were expected to have dinner with other members of the royal family at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday after the Queen’s coffin arrived from Scotland. The plane carrying her coffin was the most-tracked flight ever, according to aviation website Flightradar24.
Wednesday won’t be the first time we’ve seen William and Harry together since the death of the Queen last week. The pair were joined by their wives, Catherine and Meghan, on Saturday when they all went to see the floral tributes left at the gates of Windsor Castle.
Screams erupted from royal fans as the four emerged, with many hoping the Queen’s death would pave the way for a reconciliation between the brothers.
The joint appearance of William, Harry, Kate and Meghan came as a surprise and was not announced in advance. It was the first time they had been seen together since the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June.
While the tension between the brothers is well known, and we don’t know how much of that has been resolved, clearly it has been mended to a certain extent that they are able to appear together in public once more.
We understand that the Prince of Wales extended an olive branch to the Sussexes, inviting them to join him and his wife an hour before the walkabout took place. A royal source told us William thought it was an important show of unity at an incredibly difficult time for the family.
As the “Fab Four” – as Britain’s press previously dubbed the quartet – greeted crowds, Harry told members of the public that “no matter what room of the castle you are in” the Queen’s presence could still be felt. “She was a great granny,” he added.
On Tuesday, as the sun set in Edinburgh, Britain’s longest reigning monarch departed Scotland for the last time. It’s a country she deeply adored and a place where she was often able to figuratively put the crown aside for a short while and simply be the family matriarch, away from public scrutiny.
Earlier Tuesday, King Charles III visited Northern Ireland, continuing his tour of the nations as the new monarch. The visit saw him travel to Hillsborough Castle, where he met with political leaders and spoke of his mother’s contribution to the peace process. He called her a “shining example” and vowed to continue “to seek the welfare of all the inhabitants of Northern Ireland.”
Join us as we continue our coverage of the Queen’s final journey here.
THE QUEEN OF TRAVEL
Journeys of a lifetime.
During the Queen’s reign, she visited more than 120 countries and witnessed first-hand the revolutions in global travel that shrank the world as her own influence over it diminished.
Elizabeth II lived through the advent of the Jet Age, flew supersonic on the Concorde, saw regimes change, countries form and dissolve, the end of the British Empire and the rise of globalization.
DID YOU KNOW?
Prince William just inherited a 685-year-old estate worth $1 billion.
Royal wills are never made public. That means what happens to much of the Queen’s personal wealth following her death will remain a family secret.
Forbes estimated last year that the late monarch’s personal fortune was worth $500 million, made up of her jewels, art collection, investments and two residences, Balmoral Castle in Scotland and Sandringham House in Norfolk. The Queen inherited both properties from her father, King George VI.
But the vast bulk of the royal family’s wealth — totaling at least £18 billion ($21 billion) in land, property and investments — now passes along a well-trodden, centuries-old path to the new monarch, King Charles, and his heir.
The line of succession makes Prince William, now the first in line to the throne, a much wealthier man. The future king inherits the private Duchy of Cornwall estate from his father. The duchy owns a sprawling portfolio of land and property covering almost 140,000 acres, most of it in southwest England. Read the full story from CNN Business here.
WATCH
How Anne learned to be a royal from her mother.
Queen Elizabeth II’s only daughter, Princess Anne, is being praised on social media for the way she remained by her mother’s side every step of the way from Balmoral back to London. Many have been admiring Anne for her devotion as the family mourns, but the Princess Royal has always had a notable role in the monarchy. CNN’s Isa Soares reports more on one of the hardest-working royals.
