Kate Middleton’s hardest day: How the Princess of Wales put aside her differences with Meghan Markle

How the Princess put aside her differences with her sister-in-law for the Windsor walkabout. Photo / Netflix

It has been a year since the Queen’s death and, still, one of the most remarkable scenes from the time of mourning was the coming together of the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex during their walkabout in Windsor.

Prince William and Princess Kate’s show of unity with Harry and Meghan saw the royal couples greet well-wishers lined on the streets while admiring the floral arrangements outside the gates of Windsor Castle just two days after the Queen’s passing at the age of 96.

At the time, the Windsor walkabout — which was allegedly William’s idea — seemed to signal that a reconciliation was in the works, the Daily Mail reported. However, it was revealed afterwards that Kate found the show of unity with the Montecito royals “one of the hardest things she’d ever had to do”.

Veteran royal correspondent Robert Jobson said in Our King that Kate had confessed to a senior royal the walkabout was difficult for her because of the “ill-feeling” between the couples, a fact that was serialised in the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday.

The joint appearance was the first time the two royal couples had both been seen in public together since Commonwealth Day in 2020.

Prince William, Kate, Princess of Wales, Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, during a walkabout at Windsor Castle following the death of the Queen in September last year. Photo / AP

It was also the first time William and Harry had been spotted together since the opening of their mother Princess Diana’s memorial.

Allegedly, Harry and Meghan had not made any plans to meet with William and Kate despite staying at Frogmore Cottage at the time, only 640m from the Waleses’ Adelaide Cottage.

However, both of the brothers rushed to Balmoral that Thursday when the late Queen’s health went into a decline.

Later on, it came to light that their father, King Charles, had ordered the sparring sons to set aside their differences for their grandmother’s funeral, leading to the public reunion during their walkabout around Windsor.

Royal insiders revealed the Prince of Wales tried to bury the hatchet by offering an “eleventh-hour olive branch” to his younger brother, asking him to join him and his wife Kate in walking around the castle after a call with his father.

A Kensington Palace insider revealed that William invited the Sussexes on the walkabout. Photo / AP

A Kensington Palace insider revealed that William invited the Sussexes on the walkabout.

On the other hand, The Times reported the two couples extensively negotiated the walkabout before hand which led to them arriving 45 minutes late.

A senior palace insider shared: “The Prince of Wales invited the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to join him and the Princess of Wales earlier.

“The Prince of Wales thought it was an important show of unity for the Queen at an incredibly difficult time for the family.”

Harry and Meghan’s friend and Finding Freedom writer Omid Scobie later revealed via Twitter — now X — that the invitation was extended at the “eleventh hour”.

However, the journalist implied William’s olive branch to Prince Harry was a sign he wanted to make amends, adding: “It is, without a doubt, a significant moment in the history of the relationship between the two brothers.”

And for a brief moment in time, it seemed as though the feuding couples had travelled back in time, before the tension and bitterness had tarnished their relationship.