When Prince Philip’s funeral takes place on Saturday, it will be more than a focal point for national mourning. Many will also be watching for any signs of reconciliation between Prince Harry and the royal family, especially with his elder brother Prince William. It will be the first time that Harry comes face-to-face with the royal family since he and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, stepped away from royal duties last March and moved to California with their young son, Archie. While that departure caused a huge rift in the monarchy, family relations took a further dive last month when Harry and Meghan gave a candid interview with U.S. talk show host Oprah Winfrey. Among other revelations, Harry confirmed rumors that he and his brother had been growing apart, saying “the relationship is ‘space’ at the moment” — though he added that “time heals all things, hopefully.” Harry also told Winfrey that his father, heir to the throne Prince Charles, was not accepting his calls for a time. And the couple threw a bombshell by revealing that an unnamed member of the royal family had expressed concern about “how dark” their child’s skin color might be due to Meghan’s biracial heritage. Days after the explosive racism accusations were aired, William shot back, telling reporters that his was “very much not a racist family.” Also read: Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, dies aged 99 In spite of the tensions, Saturday’s funeral will almost certainly remind the brothers of their shared grief at another royal funeral more than two decades ago — when, as young boys, both walked behind their mother Princess Diana’s coffin in 1997. On Saturday, Harry, 36, and William, 38, are both expected to join other senior royals and walk behind their grandfather’s coffin, as the funeral procession makes its way through Windsor Castle. Many observers believe that Philip’s funeral will provide an ideal opportunity for “The Firm” to show a united front to the world and for the royal brothers to smooth over tensions. Philip, who had been married to Queen Elizabeth II for more than seven decades, died last week at 99. “They shared emotion. They share grief at the present time because of the death of their grandfather,” former Prime Minister John Major, who was appointed the princes’ guardian after Diana’s death, told the BBC this week. “I hope very much that it is possible to mend any rifts that may exist,” he added. Also read: Philip, in role with no job description, was queen’s bedrock But Angela Levin, Harry’s biographer, said it would be inappropriate for the royals to talk about their personal issues in the run-up to the funeral. It would take time to heal the hurt after the Winfrey interview — and that won’t happen if Harry rushes back to the U.S. afterward, she added.  “I absolutely think it would be wrong to be all about themselves before the funeral. And I think that it’s wrong to imagine that they’re going to pour out their hearts and give each other a hug, when so much has happened in the year and William has had to take on so much more responsibility,” she told the AP. Harry arrived in the U.K. on Monday and is in quarantine, but he can attend the funeral in line with government rules that make exceptions for such occasions. Meghan, who is pregnant with their second child, was advised by her doctor not to make the long trip, officials said. The brothers have had contrasting roles and personalities from birth, though in recent years those differences have increasingly come to the fore. As the younger brother to a future king — the so-called “spare” to the heir — Harry had far fewer responsibilities and a reputation as the party prince before serving in the army and settling down in his 30s. He found success and enjoyed popularity in Britain with the Invictus Games, the sporting event he founded for disabled and wounded members of the military. Yet his place in the monarchy became further diminished with the birth of William’s three children, who bumped him down to sixth in line to the throne. It was clear from at least 2019 that Harry wanted a break from the constraints of the monarchy to craft his own narrative. That year Harry and Meghan separated from the Royal Foundation, originally set up as the brothers’ joint charitable venture, so they could have their own platform. The princes’ separate statements this week in tribute to Philip reflected their personalities and differing styles. While William’s stated that he and his wife Kate will “continue to do what (Philip) would have wanted and will support The Queen in the years ahead,” Harry’s tone was much more informal and light-hearted. The younger brother praised Philip for being “authentically himself” and thanked him for his “dedication to Granny.” He also wrote: “While I could go on, I know that right now he would say to all of us, beer in hand, ‘Oh do get on with it’.” Still, Levin said the brothers had enjoyed an incredibly close bond from childhood and she hoped the time would come for them to reconcile their differences. “Harry said to me when I was interviewing him for my biography, he said that William is the only person he can really trust,” she said. “He felt if he went and met people, he didn’t know if they were liking him for what he was rather than who he was. But they could discuss anything, he and William.” Historian Ed Owens, who wrote “The Family Firm: Monarchy, Mass Media and the British Public 1932-1953,” about the royal family’s public relations strategy in the last century, agreed that it was “still early days” for a royal reconciliation. “I don’t think there’s going to be any great sort of family get-together or a return to sort of normalcy, sort of pre-Megxit, anytime soon,” he said.

The death of Prince Philip has left a “huge void” in Queen Elizabeth II’s life, their son Prince Andrew said Sunday, as Princess Anne paid tribute to her father as “my teacher, my supporter and my critic.”  As hundreds well-wishers continued to leave floral tributes outside the gates of royal residences in memory of the monarch’s husband, Anne — Philip and the queen’s only daughter — said her father “leaves a legacy which can inspire us all.”  “You know it’s going to happen but you are never really ready,” Anne said of Philip’s death on Friday, at the age of 99.  In a message released by Buckingham Palace, Anne praised Philip’s “ability to treat every person as an individual in their own right with their own skills,” a nod to the many charities and other organizations he was involved with.  “I would like to emphasize how much the family appreciate the messages and memories of so many people whose lives he also touched,” she said. “We will miss him, but he leaves a legacy which can inspire us all.”  Andrew, the third of Philip and the queen’s four children, attended church at the Royal Chapel of All Saints in Windsor Castle along with other members of the royal family. Also read: Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, dies aged 99  Andrew said his mother “described it as having left a huge void in her life.” “We’ve lost, almost, the grandfather of the nation,” he said. “And I feel very sorry and supportive of my mother, who’s feeling it probably more than everybody else.” His younger brother, Prince Edward, called Philip’s death a “dreadful shock” but said the 94-year-old queen was “bearing up.” Edward’s wife, Sophie, Countess of Wessex said the monarch was “thinking of others before herself.” She said Philip’s death at Windsor Castle, which came three weeks after he was discharged from a month-long hospital stay, was “peaceful.” Also read: Philip, in role with no job description, was queen’s bedrock “It was right for him and it was so gentle. It was just like someone took him by the hand and off he went,” Sophie told well-wishers. “It was very, very peaceful and that’s all you want for somebody, isn’t it?” Prince Charles, the queen and Philip’s eldest son. paid his own tribute to his “dear Papa” on Saturday, and said he “would have been amazed by the reaction and the touching things that have been said about him.” Both palace and government officials urged people not to come in person to pay their respects because of coronavirus restrictions on social mixing. But hundreds of people on Sunday brought notes, cards and flowers to the gates of Windsor Castle, located 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of London, while others laid tributes outside Buckingham Palace in the British capital. Neil Loughton, founder of the Penny Farthing Club, rode his antique bicycle to the palace gates to pay tribute. “I think that there are some things that are just important and need to be done . Ninety-nine years of life and more than 70 years of service deserves some recognition,” he said. Philip’s funeral is set to take place April 17 at Windsor Castle. Only 30 people will be able to attend under the current coronavirus restrictions in England, but the slimmed-down service is scheduled to be broadcast live on television.. Philip’s grandson Prince Harry, who stepped away from royal duties last year and now lives in California, will attend the service along with other members of the royal family, palace officials have said.. His wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, is pregnant and has been advised by her doctor not to make the journey Royal family members said they appreciated the outpouring of tributes and good wishes from people across Britain and around the world to Philip, who was the queen’s consort and support through more than seven decades of marriage. Prince Edward, 57, said the “extraordinary” tributes meant a lot to the royal family.   “It just goes to show, he might have been our father, grandfather, father-in-law, but he meant so much to so many other people,” he said.     Andrew, 61, who has largely kept out of the public eye since 2019 amid controversy over his friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, also praised the “absolutely amazing tributes.”

The U.K.’s national broadcaster switched instantly into mourning mode when Prince Philip’s death was announced but not everyone has agreed with that BBC decision.  The BBC canceled its regular programming Friday and aired special coverage hosted by black-clad news anchors throughout the day. Popular prime-time shows such as the cooking contest “MasterChef” were supplanted, and the network’s music radio stations played instrumentals and somber tunes.  Some Britons saw the BBC’s actions as a fitting mark of respect. For others, it was a bit much.  The broadcaster received so many complaints alleging its reporting was excessive that it set up a special website page for viewers to register objections if they felt there was “too much TV coverage of the death of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.” It didn’t disclose how many people had complained by Saturday.  Simon McCoy, a long-time BBC news presenter who recently left the network, suggested the wall-to-wall coverage was inordinate. “BBC1 and BBC2 showing the same thing. And presumably the News Channel, too. Why? I know this is a huge event. But surely the public deserve a choice of programming?” McCoy said on Twitter. Also read: Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, dies aged 99  The publicly funded BBC often finds itself under fire from all sides for its treatment of major national events. When the Queen Mother Elizabeth died in 2002, the broadcaster received criticism because the announcer who delivered the news did not wear a black tie. Britain’s other TV stations also gave extensive coverage to Philip’s death at age 99 and after 73 years of marriage to Queen Elizabeth II. Commercial network ITV aired news coverage and tribute programs all day Friday in place of scheduled programming. The BBC is under unique pressure, though, because it is taxpayer-funded. Scrutiny and questions about its role have grown in recent years as commercial rivals and streaming services give audiences more choice. The BBC has often irked governments with its coverage of their failings and scandals. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative administration has been especially rankled, claiming a liberal bias in the broadcaster’s coverage of issues such as Brexit. Also read: Philip, in role with no job description, was queen’s bedrock For a time, the government refused to allow Cabinet ministers to appear on major BBC news programs, and it mulled the idea of scrapping the 159-pound ($218) a year license fee that households pay to fund the broadcaster. BBC Director-General Tim Davie has acknowledged the organization must evolve with changing times, but says it remains essential to British society. “We have a different purpose” than broadcasters such as Netflix, Davie told U.K. lawmakers last month. “I’m not running a business for profit. I’m running ... an organization for purpose.”