Windsor, England – The UK was in a period of national mourning on Monday, commemorating the life of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Queen Elizabeth II’s husband of more than 70 years died last week at the age of 99. As CBS News’s Holly Williams reports, the funeral will take place on Saturday in the St. George’s Chapel held in Windsor Castle.
It will be a small, private service due to COVID-19 restrictions that limit gatherings to 30 people, and according to the late Duke’s own wishes. But as one former royal correspondent told CBS News, it could still provide an opportunity to bridge the gap between two important members of the younger generation of the royal family and the loved ones from whom they need to seek some distance. , to cure.
Prince Harry was back in England on Monday and was self-isolating for the mandatory five days under British coronavirus rules to attend the funeral.
Philip was considered by some to be the power behind the throne for decades, but the BBC’s historian and longtime royal correspondent, Wesley Kerr, told CBS News that a generational shift had already taken place in the monarchy.
“The Queen did a lot less anyway, even before COVID,” Kerr said. “All the major foreign tours are now done by [Princes] Charles and William. This has been happening for some time. ‘
The younger members of the House of Windsor are a more complicated set than the monarch and her late husband, who appeared happily married for 73 years.
Prince Andrew paid tribute to their father – the first time he has been heard since the Jeffrey Epstein scandal put an end to his public role as royal – and described his mother as stoic in light of her loss, which he said left has “a big gap in her life.”
“I feel very sorry and support my mother, who I think probably feels more than everyone else,” Andrew said Sunday.
While Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex’s pregnancy, will love her funeral, her husband, Prince Harry, will be there to honor his grandfather. The weekend’s service will take place a few weeks after Meghan and Harry’s bombing interview with Oprah Winfrey, during which they made allegations of racism within the royal family.
“I think he will be greeted as a very close family member by his grandmother, by his father, by his brother and his cousins,” Kerr predicted. “I think they will be very happy to see him.”
“He and his wife looked down from their chests regardless of their beef,” Kerr said, adding that according to the queen herself, “the memories differ” within the royal family over the allegations made by the young royals, and some of them. allegations – for example that they were quietly married three days before their wedding – were flatly rejected.
Kerr said it is possible it is time to inflict any emotional damage.
“I think being together, especially during the funeral of a great patriarch, I think is going to be the key,” he said. “Ultimately, it’s Harry’s family. I know Meghan has a family, but it’s his family as well as Meghan’s, and I think reconciliation will be the theme … reconciliation is always a very, very powerful theme at a funeral. ‘
Kerr, no stranger to the British public or the British press’ consideration of the royals, said he did not expect to see a significant setback against Harry over the interview with Oprah.
“I think there will be comments in newspapers and then in the comments below, just like it has been for a few weeks,” he said. “He and the Duchess chose to give the interview and they chose to give their views on it. There will inevitably be comments on this, some favorable, others less so.”
“To me, the most important is the Queen, Prince Charles, William – this is the future. This is the most important future of the institution. But Harry remains an important member of the royal family,” Kerr said, suggesting that he and Meghan became something of a ‘North American branch’ of the family that the queen apparently calls ‘The Firm’.
While Kerr noted that the Duke and Duchess were clear focused on their new, independent businesses as non-working royals, “he’s definitely still a member of the royal family – he’s definitely Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. She’s definitely the Duchess of Sussex. I think the point is that they’re still very much members of the royal family. “
Kerr said Harry and Meghan could possibly be more visible members of the family again at some point, and that he would be personally “delighted” to see it.
He also noted that another opportunity not far off the door threatens to build on reconciliation that comes this week as the royal family mourns the mourning of their patriarch.
“I think he will return on July 1, if it does not coincide with the birth of the child, to unveil the new statue to Diana,” Kerr said, referring to Prince Harry’s expected attendance at the official ceremony to unveil . a statue of his deceased mother this summer.
“I think, you know, in a family there are disputes, but there is also reconciliation.”
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Prince Harry on Monday, due to his self-isolation at Frogmore Cottage on the Royal Estate in Windsor, issued a statement praising his late grandfather as a man of service, honor and great humor, which he said was first and foremost leading, “grandfather: master of braai, legend of jokes, and brutal to the end.”
“He was genuine himself, with a serious sharp mind, and could keep the attention of any room because of his charm – and also because you never knew what he would say next,” Harry says, adding: “Meghan “Archie and I (as well as your future great-granddaughter) will always have a special place in our hearts for you.”