William: He would want us to get on with the job
Brothers release their own – markedly different – tributes to their grandfather
THE DUKE of Cambridge has pledged to “get on with the job” of supporting the Queen as he paid tribute to his “extraordinary” grandfather.
Issuing a separate statement to the Duke of Sussex yesterday, Prince William praised the Duke of Edinburgh’s “century of life defined by service”.
Prince Harry released his own, more informal, message half an hour later.
“My grandfather was an extraordinary man and part of an extraordinary generation,” Prince William said.
“Catherine and I will continue to do what he would have wanted and will support the Queen in the years ahead. I will miss my grandpa, but I know he would want us to get on with the job.”
Prince William, 38, became the first of the Duke’s eight grandchildren to pay tribute in the wake of his death on Friday.
After flying into the UK on Sunday, Prince Harry, 36, put out a more colloquial eulogy describing “grandpa” as “master of the barbecue, legend of banter, and cheeky right ’til the end”.
It is thought both princes wrote the statements themselves and while palace officials were made aware of the timing of Prince Harry’s tribute, they were not involved in the wording.
The royal brothers will be reunited for the first time in more than a year at the Duke’s funeral on Saturday, which will also mark Prince Harry’s first public appearance alongside the Royal family since he and the Duchess of Sussex gave an interview to Oprah Winfrey last month accusing “The Firm” of racism and a lack of support.
Prince William’s statement was released by Kensington Palace at 2pm with a touching photograph of an infant Prince George, now seven, sitting alongside his great-grandfather for a carriage drive. Wearing a light blue jumper, the little prince holds a book while Prince Philip takes the reins and smiles for the camera. The 99-year-old had enjoyed carriage riding for half a century, taking part in competitions and even writing books on the sport.
Prince William also paid tribute to his grandfather’s “enduring presence” when he was growing up. The Duke of Edinburgh was particularly supportive of William and Harry when Diana, Princess of Wales died in 1997, when they were 15 and 12 respectively, famously persuading the elder to walk behind his mother’s coffin by agreeing to join him on the procession with the words: “If I walk, will you walk with me?”
“I feel lucky to have not just had his example to guide me, but his enduring presence well into my own adult life – both through good times and the hardest days,” Prince William said.
“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. I will never take for granted the special memories my children will always have of their greatgrandpa coming to collect them in his carriage and seeing for themselves his infectious sense of adventure as well as his mischievous sense of humour!”
At 2.30pm, Prince Harry’s global press secretary circulated his highly personal statement, in which he described his grandfather as “a man of service, honour and great humour”.
Referencing his “seriously sharp wit” and ability to “hold the attention of any room due to his charm – and also because you never knew what he might say next”, Prince Harry added: “He will be remembered as the longest reigning consort to the monarch, a decorated serviceman, a prince and a duke.
“But to me, like many of you who have lost a loved one or grandparent over the pain of this past year, he was my grandpa: master of the barbecue, legend of banter, and cheeky right ’til the end.
“He has been a rock for Her Majesty the Queen with unparalleled devotion, by her side for 73 years of marriage, and
‘To me, he was my grandpa: master of the barbecue, legend of banter, and cheeky right ’til the end’
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!’”
Speaking directly to “Grandpa”, he ended the tribute by thanking him for “your dedication to Granny, and for always being yourself”, adding: “You will be sorely missed, but always remembered – by the nation and the world.
“Meghan, Archie, and I (as well as your future great-granddaughter) will always hold a special place for you in our hearts.”
He concluded the 197-word message with “Per Mare, Per Terram” (“By Sea, By Land”) the motto of the Royal Marines of which Prince Harry was Captain General until March this year.
He had inherited the honorary title from his grandfather when the Duke retired from public life in 2017 and is said to have been disappointed not to be able to maintain his links with the regiment after he and the Duchess of Sussex stepped down as senior royals in March 2020. The Duchess, who is heavily pregnant with the couple’s second child, was advised by doctors not to make the transatlantic journey.
Friends insisted she had remained at the couple’s home in Montecito, near Los Angeles, because she “doesn’t want to be the centre of attention”, revealing that she “adored” the Duke, with whom she had a “special bond”.
Prince Harry arrived at Heathrow on a scheduled BA flight at 1.15pm on Sunday and is staying at Frogmore Cottage, the Sussexes’ former Windsor home, where he is following Covid-19 protocols. It is not known whether he will share the Grade Ii-listed, five-bedroom property with his cousin Princess Eugenie, her husband Jack Brooksbank and their two-month-old son, August, to whom it has been sublet, or require them to temporarily move in with the Duke and Duchess of York.
Prince Harry can leave quarantine after five days rather than 10 if he provides a negative Covid test under the Government’s Test to Release scheme.
However, he will be allowed to attend the Duke’s funeral regardless, as official guidelines state those coming in from abroad can leave isolation “on compassionate grounds”.
THE SENTIMENTS may have been similar but the style could not have been more contrasting. As the Duke of Cambridge and Duke of Sussex released very different tributes to their grandfather within 30 minutes of each other yesterday, it was impossible to resist reading between the lines.
In days gone by, the royal brothers would have put out a joint statement commemorating such an important role model in both their lives.
Yet with tensions still seemingly bristling between the two princes ahead of the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral on Saturday, we were left to decipher the coded messages contained within.
Prince William’s 173-word missive was the first to drop on the Kensington Palace website at 2pm, paying tribute to a “century of life defined by service”.
Praising his grandfather as an “extraordinary man and part of an extraordinary generation”, the seemly eulogy gave a nod to the Duke’s “infectious sense of adventure as well as his mischievous sense of humour”.
There was also an acknowledgement of his “enduring presence … both through good times and the hardest days,” a reference to his stalwart support following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales when he encouraged his grandsons to follow their mother’s coffin with the words: “If I walk, will you walk with me?”
Yet it was the final, somewhat pointed, paragraph which took royal watchers by surprise, as Prince William insisted: “Catherine and I will continue to do what he would have wanted and will support the Queen in the years ahead. I will miss my grandpa, but I know he would want us to get on with the job.”
The carefully-chosen words were inevitably interpreted by some as a bold attempt to contrast the Cambridges’ dutiful behaviour with the Sussexes’ recent dereliction of royal duty.
While Prince William was undoubtedly intending to reflect his grandfather’s no-nonsense approach to life, there is no escaping the inherent implication that he and his wife are the embodiment of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh’s “keep calm and carry on mantra” compared with his escapee brother and sister-in-law.
During the couple’s interview with Oprah Winfrey, the Duke of Sussex suggested his brother and father, the Prince of Wales, were “trapped” in the monarchy. This was the Prince William’s way of responding to that extraordinary tell-all on his own terms, stating the case for personal sacrifice in the face of public duty.
The final paragraph is all the more intriguing since The Daily Telegraph understands it was not included in the statement when it was first drafted over the weekend. It had been originally mooted that Prince William’s tribute might go out alongside his father’s on Saturday, before it was decided that all of the Duke of Edinburgh’s children should pay tribute before his grandchildren.
Although the palace was made aware of the timing of Prince Harry’s statement, royal aides were not involved in the wording before it was circulated by the Sussexes’ global press secretary at 2.30pm.
You did not need to look far to find similar hidden meaning in the much more informal 197-word homage to “my grandpa: master of the barbecue, legend of banter, and cheeky right ’til the end”.
Having been accused in the past of issuing Americanised statements bearing the hallmarks of Meghan’s red pen, the upbeat paean could not have been more unquestionably Harry if it had donned a ginger wig as he reflected that if he was here right now, his grandfather “would say to all of us, beer in hand, ‘Oh, do get on with it!’”
Like his brother, the Montecitobased prince could not resist a reference to his own immediate family in absentia, revealing: “Meghan, Archie, and I (as well as your future great-granddaughter) will always hold a special place for you in our hearts.” The pregnant Duchess has not flown over for the funeral on doctor’s advice.
Yet his attempt to draw a personal parallel with the so-called Duke of Hazard was plain to see as he described him as someone who was “authentically himself ” who “could hold the attention of any room due to his charm—and also because you never knew what he might say next”.
Prince Harry’s decision to sign off with the Royal Marines’ motto “Per Mare, Per Terram” (“By Sea, By Land”) also appeared a thinly-veiled reference to his superior military service compared with his brother’s, along with a reminder that he had inherited the role of Captain General of the regiment from his grandfather – only to be stripped of such honorary appointments post Megxit, seemingly against his will.
Having made no secret of being disappointed not to be able to maintain his military ties, the inclusion of the four-word Latin phrase appeared designed to tell the world that while he may no longer be a working royal, like his grandfather he will forever remain a royal who saw active service.
It may have also been an echo of Prince Harry’s new-found Californian way of life as it is a military custom in much of the US armed forces to sign off letters, speeches and even individual social interactions with a unit motto.
Members of the US Marine Corps, for example, end correspondence with the words “semper fi” (short for Semper Fidelis, Latin for “always faithful”).
But the custom is not practised in the British Armed Forces, perhaps saying more about the direction of Prince Harry’s future career than his previous one.
As they prepare to be reunited for the first time in more than a year behind their beloved grandpa’s coffin, there remains no mistaking the divergence between two brothers.
It remains to be seen whether the death of the Royal family’s former patriarch will help William and Harry to bury their differences along with the man who encouraged them to forever be brothers in arms.