Kate's walk with Meghan 'one of the hardest things she had to do'
The Princess of Wales found walking alongside Meghan at Windsor days after the death of Queen Elizabeth II to be "one of the hardest things she had ever had to do". The late monarch died on September 8, 2022, and just two days later Prince William and Catherine joined with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to meet well-wishers. The two couples reunited in what was clearly a show of unity as the nation mourned its beloved monarch.
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The Wales' and the Sussexes' reunited two days after the death of Queen Elizabeth II outside Windsor Castle. (AP)
Prince William, Catherine, Prince Harry and Meghan arrived together in the same black car and walked slowly towards the crowds near the Long Walk at Windsor Castle. For about 30 minutes the royals read cards and looked at floral tributes and met those who had come to pay their respects. READ MORE: Prince Louis joins royals for Easter for the first time
Both couples kept close to each other, with little interaction between the Wales' and the Sussexes', previously dubbed the 'Fab Four'.
A book claims Kate found the walk "one of the hardest things she had ever had to do". (Getty)
The mood appeared sombre and there were clearly tensions behind the scenes. And now, a new book is detailing just how hard Kate found the engagement to be. It was Prince William's idea to come together, believing his late grandmother would have appreciated the gesture.
"And for a few minutes, it looked as though the warring couples had slipped back in time, before bitterness and harsh words had destroyed their relationship," writes royal correspondent Robert Jobson in his book, Our King: Charles III - The Man And The Monarch Revealed.
It was Prince Harry and Meghan's first engagement with Prince William and Kate since since the Commonwealth Day service in 2020. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
"Sadly, it was all an illusion - as sources close to the royal family have confirmed to me. "Catherine later admitted to a senior royal that, such was the ill feeling between the two couples, the joint walkabout was one of the hardest things she had ever had to do." READ MORE: Royal regalia and jewels to be worn and used at the coronation
The engagement wrapped up and Prince William and Kate, Prince Harry and Meghan, got back inside the car and drove off. Jobson speculates tension between the two couples is far worse now.
The Princess of Wales put on a brave face to reunite with Prince Harry and Meghan two days after the death of Queen Elizabeth. (Chris Jackson/Getty)
"Bear in mind this was before Prince Harry published Spare, the autobiography that not only revealed family secrets but laid bare his resentment of his brother. "It was before the cloying Netflix documentary series he did with Meghan, and the succession of TV interviews in which he criticised the royal institution.
"If Catherine found it almost unbearable before all this to share a walkabout with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, then how - one has to wonder - do she and William feel about them now?" It was the first time Prince William and Prince Harry had been together with their wives, in public, since the Commonwealth Day service in 2020. For a daily dose of 9Honey, subscribe to our newsletter here
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