Princes William and Harry are both said to have been at the service to support their aunt and the wider Spencer family. Photo / Getty Images
Princes William and Harry are both said to have been at the service to support their aunt and the wider Spencer family. Photo / Getty Images
The Duke of Sussex joined the Prince of Wales at the service in Norfolk for their uncle, Lord Fellowes, it was reported.
The Prince of Wales and Duke of Sussex have both attended the funeral of their uncle Lord Fellowes, placing them in the same room for thefirst time this year, it has been reported.
Princes William and Harry are both said to have been at the service, at St Mary’s Church in Snettisham, Norfolk, to support their aunt and the wider Spencer family.
Lord Fellowes, who served as the late Queen Elizabeth II’s private secretary, died aged 82 last month. He married Lady Jane Spencer, the sister of Diana, Princess of Wales.
Sources close to Prince Harry had previously indicated that he would not be able to travel for the funeral, citing his ongoing security concerns.
Kensington Palace did not comment on the private family event. The office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Prince William and Harry have not been seen together publicly since the King’s coronation in 2023, and before that attended a joint walkabout with their wives following the death of their grandmother and attended her funeral.
The brothers are understood to have had no communication, with an ongoing rift over the Sussexes’ many public disclosures about the royal family. They are not known to have seen each other when Harry travelled to the UK earlier this year for an anniversary service for the Invictus Games, nor when he had a 30-minute visit with King Charles after his cancer diagnosis.
Lady Fellowes was among the members of the Spencer family to attend the Invictus service at St Paul’s Cathedral to support Prince Harry.
‘We never saw them speak to each other’
On Thursday night, the Sun newspaper reported a friend of the family saying they were “very happy to confirm both princes were there” at the church service for Lord Fellowes.
It quoted one onlooker as saying: “We never saw them speak to each other and they kept their distance”, with the brothers arriving “discreetly” and sitting at the back of the church.
The brothers are understood to have had no communication. Photo / Getty Images
“William and Harry were both there but we never saw them speak to each other and they were keeping their distance,” said a local.
Lord Fellowes, GCB, GCVO, QSO, PC, died on July 29 of undisclosed causes.
He served as private secretary to Queen Elizabeth II for nine years, and was instrumental in guiding the royal family during some of its most turbulent years.
In a rare interview published in The Telegraph in 2008, it was said: “Few know more about the royal family than Robert Fellowes, and few have said less.”
Paying tribute, Earl Spencer said: “My absolutely exceptional brother-in-law Robert is no longer with us.
“A total gentleman, in all the best meanings of that word, he was a man of humour, wisdom and utter integrity. I’m deeply proud to have been his brother-in-law.”
Prince Harry’s reported trip to the UK is his third of this year, following a short visit with his father in February and his Invictus trip. He has also undertaken short tours to Nigeria and Colombia with the Duchess.
The ongoing dispute over his security has seen the Duke decline to bring his wife and children to Britain. A current agreement, which he is appealing, requires him to give 28 days notice of his plans, with specialist Met Police protection given when he is on public duty.
When he was last in London, he is understood to have declined an offer to stay at Buckingham Palace, considering it too risky to be at the high-profile location if he was not given royal protection while travelling in and out of its secure boundary.
The funeral attendance will be seen by some as a step towards reconciliation between the brothers, as well as a sign of their separate support for their widowed aunt.
