Harry to attend Prince Phillip’s funeral without Meghan
Doctors have advised the former royal not to travel as her pregnancy is advanced
Prince Philip, the world’s longest-reigning consort and husband of Queen Elizabeth II for 73 years passed on Friday at the age of 99. Aside from mourning the prince, known for his support of the queen, his charity work on behalf of the crown, and his sometimes embarrassing gaffes, royal watchers wondered – would his grandson Harry attend his funeral?
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The answer is yes, but he’ll be attending without his wife, Meghan. And lest you think it’s because of any fallout from the explosive revelations in the Oprah Winfrey interview last month, you’d be reminded that Meghan is pregnant with the couple’s second child, a girl, arriving sometime soon.
“The Duke of Sussex is planning to attend,” a spokesman for the royals said on Saturday. “The Duchess of Sussex has been advised by her physician not to travel. So the duke will be attending.”
Neither of the former royals has spoken to the media since the announcement was made. According to multiple reports, Prince Phillip requested not to lie in state, and in accordance with restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, mourners will be restricted to just 30 people. The service will be held at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on April 17.
There is hope among royal watchers that the funeral will work to heal the public rift between Harry and his brother, Prince William, who have been at odds since before the Oprah interview caused even more of a frost between the two.
“Harry will come home, and a meeting between the brothers and perhaps, with luck, a reconciliation over their dead grandfather could be a possibility,” royal historian Penny Junor told The New York Times. “It’s going to go one way or the other. There’s a sort of war going on within the family, and being played out in public. It’s been everything the family doesn’t want.”
In the Oprah interview, Meghan and Harry decried the racism in the royal family’s response to her marriage to Harry and her treatment by the British tabloids. In a blockbuster revelation, Meghan said someone had expressed ”concerns and conversations about how dark [their son Archie’s] skin might be when he’s born.”
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Oprah and the couple did say it was neither Prince Phillip nor Queen Elizabeth who’d made the comment.
Harry’s father, Prince Charles, issued this public statement:
It has been reported that Harry and his grandfather were especially close. Here’s a look at the two over the years.
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