Kate Middleton 'so personally affected’ by Prince Philip's death she encouraged William to reach out to Harry
She's said to have had a close relationship with the late Duke of Edinburgh, who sympathised with her 'plight'
Prince Philip’s funeral during the pandemic was like no other in recent royal history as his grieving family - sitting distanced from each other - paid tribute to Britain’s longest-serving royal consort. In line with guidelines at the time, only 30 people were there and this of course included the Prince and Princess of Wales and Prince Harry.
Kate’s relationship with her late grandfather-in-law isn’t something we often hear about, but in Russell Myers’ biography William & Catherine: The Intimate Inside Story, a source suggests that his death hit her hard and prompted a big decision. Myers writes, "Another source told how Catherine was left so personally affected by the Duke of Edinburgh’s death that it spurred her decision to encourage William to talk to his brother following the funeral at Windsor."
The funeral was the first time Prince Harry had returned to the UK since his and Meghan’s Oprah Winfrey interview aired. This sent reports of a rift between the Sussexes and the Waleses, and particularly between the brothers, into overdrive.
Article continues belowAll eyes were on Prince William and Harry as they walked in the royal procession to St George’s Chapel and after the service they went back to Windsor Castle together. The Princess of Wales chatted with both and then stepped away to walk with Duchess Sophie, seemingly giving her husband and brother-in-law some time together.
The loss of the Royal Family’s patriarch seemingly put family squarely back as the main priority in Kate’s mind, with the source claiming, "Catherine believed the family should come first". Secondly, it was alleged that if there was an "opportunity" to find out what was motivating Harry’s approach to the royals, it "should be taken".
According to the Duke of Sussex himself, a meeting did take place back at the castle between himself, William and King Charles. Unfortunately, it didn’t go quite as Kate might have hoped when she supposedly "encouraged" talks.
The Duke of Sussex wrote in his memoir, Spare, that the King stood between his sons "looking up at [their] flushed faces" and declared, "Please, boys. Don’t make my final years a misery."
Regardless of this, it’s certainly interesting that the Princess of Wales seemingly did what she could to bring the family closer together in the wake of Prince Philip’s passing. The Duke was said to have been "incredibly fond" of her and they "enjoyed a close relationship".
Myers notes that they wrote letters to one another for years. Philip sympathised with her "plight as an outsider coming into a family dynamic like no other". Although he was born a royal, unlike Kate, he gave up his Greek and Danish titles and became a British citizen and life as the husband of Queen Elizabeth was still very different to what he was used to.
He is understood to have acted as a mentor figure to the younger generations of his family and Prince William has spoken of how kind he was to the Princess. Three days after Prince Philip passed away at Windsor Castle, his grandson posted a private photograph of him and Prince George riding in a carriage, taken by Kate.
"I will always be grateful that my wife had so many years to get to know my grandfather and for the kindness he showed her," Prince William stated.
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