Brotherly rift must pain Queen so much

OF all the events in the four-day Platinum Jubilee programme, yesterday’s service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral was the emotional and ritual centrepiece.

Beautifully observed as always, the ceremony emphasised the Queen’s deep personal faith as well as her formal position as head of the Anglican church.

No one will have been more disappointed than she at being unable to attend after her exertions of Thursday, though she will no doubt have enjoyed watching the TV coverage from the comfort of Windsor.

But her absence did serve to switch attention to just how deep the rift has grown between Prince Harry and his family.

Although granted a solo moment on arrival at the church, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were otherwise treated as minor players in a crowd scene.

Prince William didn’t even look at the couple after the service, breezing past them without a sideways glance.

And while working royals headed off to a convivial lunch at the Guildhall, the Sussexes left alone. The contrast was stark.

Only time will tell whether relations between Princess Diana’s once inseparable sons will ever heal. William has cause to be angry, after Harry and Meghan effectively denounced the family as callous and racist.

Meghan also told Oprah Winfrey that Kate had made her cry, a disgraceful charge that Kate had no means of refuting.

Having been prepared to trash their own in pursuit of money and celebrity across the Atlantic, the Sussexes could hardly have expected a garlanded homecoming.

But the Queen obviously hopes reconciliation is possible. She has handed an olive branch to the prodigal couple and is expected to see them and their children privately today.

There is of course a deeper poignancy to Harry’s estrangement from William.

The nation grieved with the boys on that day in 1997 when they walked together, inconsolable and uncomprehending, behind their mother’s coffin. They had lost so much, but at least, we thought, they had each other. Brothers in arms.

If we feel sorrow now at their alienation, imagine how their grandmother must feel. How she must long for them to find a way of repairing the old bonds.

That would probably necessitate Harry making the first move, an apology perhaps for all the heartache and offence he and Meghan have caused – especially to Kate.

There was little evidence of rapprochement yesterday, however. For now, at least, the brothers remain worlds apart.