Princes William and Harry had an ‘argument’ before their ‘awkward’ Windsor walkabout with Kate and Meghan in 2022 – just one day after the Queen’s death, a lip reader has claimed.
It was the first time the ‘Fab Four’ had been publicly seen together since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped away from royal duties in 2020, all in mourning for the late Elizabeth II.
And now a new Channel 5 documentary has suggested there were heated words exchanged by the two royal brothers before they braved the public.
Speaking on Lip-Reading The Royals: What Are They Really Saying?, which airs on Saturday at 8.15pm, Nicola Hickling examined the tense few moments before both couples wandered alongside each other to inspect the vast sea of floral tributes laid outside of the Berkshire estate.
As they started to walk up to the gates, she shared, it looked like William turned to Kate and said ‘let’s move’.
Shortly after this, Harry touched William on the shoulder – at which point the Prince of Wales reportedly told the Duke: ‘Why are we together? This is not the end.’
‘And at that moment, Meghan chimes in “not today”,’ Nicola continued. ‘She can obviously feel a tension here between William and Harry.’
The lip-reader then shared that she believed Harry then said: ‘Not now please, I didn’t foresee this,’ a possible reference to the fact that the Duke may not have been aware of the joint engagement beforehand.
Kate then reportedly said: ‘Stop arguing.’
Princes William and Harry had an ‘argument’ before their ‘awkward’ Windsor walkabout with Kate and Meghan in 2022 – just one day after the Queen’s death, a lip reader has claimed
‘That would have been a Palace decision, I think, for them to be seen together and obviously the brothers had to agree to this,’ Grant Howard, a former royal butler, told the programme.
‘It would have been a very difficult decision for them because suddenly they’re having to act and to put the best foot forward, and pretend everything’s great again.’
‘When they get to the gate and they can see all the flowers, I can sense a change in William,’ Nicola continued. ‘Like he’s put on a front at this point, and he says to Catherine, “look at all the flowers”.’
Meanwhile, Meghan and Harry were close together – and the Duchess reportedly told her husband: ‘Don’t let go.’
To this, the Duke allegedly replied: ‘I got you.’
It was the first time the ‘Fab Four’ had been publicly seen together since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped away from royal duties in 2020, all in mourning for the late Elizabeth II
‘Up until the Queen’s death, with Harry and Meghan, they’d very much become outcasts if you like,’ Grant added.
‘Their relations with the Royal Family were at an all-time low. When I watched the clip originally, I thought “oh that’s quite nice, they’re all together…”
‘So now hearing the lip reader’s view on it… it obviously changes the dynamic of the situation because the reality is they were having an argument.’
‘We were all very surprised to see them together,’ royal commentator Ingrid Seward also shared. ‘William must have meant, this is not the end of our argument, this is not the end of our differences – and I think they were probably on very awkward terms.’
Elsewhere, former royal press secretary Dicky Arbiter said it was clear there was ‘anger and frustration’ from William’s side, as the Prince likely felt ‘it wasn’t the right moment and it wasn’t the right time’.
‘It’s very hard for brothers in very different places,’ actress Nina Wadia remarked.
‘And then publicly the only opportunity to talk… because they’re probably not talking behind the scenes… who knows. It is such a sad situation.’
