Prince Harry has visited Windsor Castle to lay a wreath and pay respects to the late Queen, before talking about the challenges of sibling relationships.
The Duke of Sussex arrived in the UK on Monday and visited the royal residence, where he left flowers for the former monarch on the third anniversary of the late Queen’s death.
Harry then attended the annual WellChild Awards in London, amid speculation his trip could include meetings with his brother, Prince William, or his father, the King.
The WellChild Awards marked the first time the Duke of Sussex, who is the charity’s patron, has returned to the UK in five months.
Harry was pictured speaking with seriously ill youngsters ahead of a glittering awards ceremony, which aims to recognise their efforts to succeed and thrive despite life-threatening conditions.
He appeared to allude to his strained relationship with William while chatting with Declan Bitmead, 17, when Harry learned the teenager had a younger brother.
“Does he drive you mad?” Harry asked, and Declan replied: “No, we get on fine”.
But when Harry, who followed William to Eton, learned that Declan and his brother went to the same school, he said: “That sometimes makes it more challenging.”
Harry offers Netflix suggestions
Grace Tutt, 13, who is wheelchair-bound after a bus crash, asked the duke for Netflix recommendations.
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The Prince said he and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, who live in California after stepping down as working royals, watch the political thriller Hostage together, and he also enjoys the reality TV show Love Is Blind.
Harry also enjoyed a balloon sword fight with nine-year-old Gwen Foster, who was born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus, and challenged him to a duel with the toys made by a balloon sculptor.
William and Kate pay respects
Earlier on Monday, the Princess of Wales joined her husband to pay respects to Queen Elizabeth II during a visit to the National Federation of Women’s Institutes in Sunningdale, Berkshire.
It marks Kate’s third engagement in five days, after she visited the National History Museum’s gardens last Thursday before watching England’s women’s rugby side, the Red Roses, beat Australia 47-7 in their Women’s Rugby World Cup match in Brighton on Saturday.
Royal correspondent
It’s been a while since we’ve seen pictures of both Prince Harry and Prince William out on engagements on the same day in the UK. Geographically, they were closer than they’ve been in some time, but sadly it seems emotionally still so far apart.
Prince Harry has flown in for what him and his team want to be a trip with no negativity. The WellChild awards is always an event where he shines.
The children don’t seem to care who he is or what they ask him. An openness that’s also been clear from Harry’s team, with much less secrecy than previous trips.
The one thing they have been careful to avoid talking about is his relatives, especially as his arrival came on a poignant day for the family. Gun salutes in London marking three years since Queen Elizabeth died, as the King spent his accession day privately in Scotland.
Whether his father will travel to London in time to see Harry this week, the palace won’t say.
We were told that Harry did go to Windsor to lay flowers as a tribute to his grandmother, taking him even closer to Prince William who lives on the Windsor estate. But there was no suggestion of a meet-up, as around the same time William was about eight miles away in Sunningdale with the Princess of Wales, sharing stories and tea with members of the Women’s Institute who had met his grandmother.
One thing the two brothers would no doubt be united on, whether they’re talking or not, is their desire that we’d all stop fixating on them and focus on the engagements they were doing instead.
As a crowd gathered outside the Royal Lancaster Hotel to get a glimpse of Harry, it had been a day which felt like a reminder of how families do go through painful times.
With talk of reconciliation and a potential reset, we wait to see if the Windsor’s are really any closer to moving on.
Harry has had little contact with his father and elder brother, since he and his wife, gave up royal duties and moved to California in 2020.
Harry and Charles last met face-to-face more than a year and a half ago, after the duke rushed over from his home in the US to see the King following his cancer diagnosis.
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The relationship became even frostier after the couple bared their grievances with Buckingham Palace in a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey, a Netflix series and Harry’s memoir, Spare.
Harry was last in London in April, when the Court of Appeal rejected his bid to restore police protection that was cancelled after he stopped being a working royal.
