WILLIAM AND HARRY BROTHERS AT ARMS ...LENGTH
THE Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex will walk behind their grandfather’s coffin in the funeral procession – but cousin Peter Phillips will be positioned between the battling brothers.
As the family gathers to walk down the hill to St George’s Chapel, Peter, 43 – the Queen’s oldest grandchild and Princess Anne’s son – will be in the middle of the row of three.
William will be one step ahead of Harry when the coffin is taken into the chapel, moving ahead as the family process in pairs.
William, 38, and Harry, 36, have not seen each other since the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey in March last year. Relations between them have been strained since Harry and Meghan’s wedding in May 2018.
Peter, a businessman and former rugby player, will act as a barrier between them, just as Mike and Zara Tindall did when the Royal Family attended the Easter Sunday service at St George’s Chapel on the Queen’s birthday two years ago.
In the past few weeks the brothers have talked on the phone but appear to have struggled to end their feud.
The split was worsened by Harry and Meghan’s claims that they became victims of racism inside the family, and by a palace investigation into claims that Meghan, inset, bullied staff.
Harry, like his uncle Prince Andrew, will at least have his blushes spared after the palace confirmed that none of the family will be wearing military uniform.
Instead they men will wear morning suits and their military medals. Under normal circumstances, members of the Royal Family would have worn uniforms and those like Harry and Andrew who have stood down from official royal duties and their military patronages would have almost certainly been forced to wear civvies.
However,Andrew has only stepped down “temporarily” and still holds the honorary rank of Vice Admiral in the Royal Navy.
Palace officials refused to discuss the royal rift yesterday or the need for Peter Phillips to stand between the brothers. A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “This is a funeral.
“We are not going to be drawn into those perceptions of drama or anything like that.”
Prince Charles and Princess Anne will lead the family procession, followed by Prince Andrew and the Earl of Wessex.
Behind them will be William, Peter and Harry as the three representatives of the couple’s grandchildren.
Then will come Anne’s husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, and Philip’s nephew the Earl of Snowdon, Princess Margaret’s son.
They will be joined by Philip’s private secretary, Brigadier Archie Miller-Bakewell, the Duke’s Metropolitan Police personal protection officer, two pages and two valets.
Behind them will come the Queen, 94, and a lady-in-waiting in the state Bentley.