bitchy | Prince Harry made a secret visit to the UK this week for his uncle’s funeral

Robert Fellowes passed away one month ago. Fellowes was married to Lady Jane Spencer, one of Princess Diana’s older sisters. Prince Harry is very close to the Spencer side of his family, and there was a lot of talk in the British media about whether Harry would fly in for his uncle’s funeral. Two weeks ago, the Daily Beast reported exclusively that Harry would not go to the funeral, mostly because his security situation in the UK is still FUBAR. For what it’s worth, I believed the Daily Beast’s exclusive and I believed Harry would not make an attempt to go to his uncle’s funeral. I was wrong. Harry flew into England, stealth-mode, this week and the British media is only finding out now.

Harry and William were together yesterday to say goodbye to their uncle — but were not seen talking to each other. The princes both “discreetly” attended the funeral for Lord Robert Fellowes, who was their mother Diana’s brother-in-law.

They were said to have sat apart at the back of the church in Snettisham, Norfolk.

Sources close to US-based Harry, 39, had previously claimed he would not attend. But a close family friend said they were “very happy to confirm both princes were there”.

Another source told how they saw them only at the end of the service in St Mary’s Church.

They said: “I didn’t know they were there. They arrived very discreetly.”

One local added: “William and Harry were both there but we never saw them speak to each other and they were keeping their distance.”

The brothers have barely ­spoken to each other since Megxit, when Harry and wife Meghan quit royal duties for a new life in the States. Harry and William, 42, went on a walkabout at Windsor after the death of Queen Elizabeth in 2022 but have not been in the same room since the King’s Coronation more than a year ago.

[From The Sun]

It’s honestly just as big a surprise to me that William went to the funeral too. This seems like just the kind of Spencer family event which William would have skipped. I would also assume that Harry’s presence at the funeral was not a surprise to the Spencers, who likely helped facilitate his secret trip. Harry might have even stayed at Althorp (the Spencer estate) while he was there for all we know. Oh God… I bet he did just that and paid a visit to his mother’s gravesite ahead of the anniversary of her death. He hadn’t been to Diana’s grave since 2022, when he brought Meghan.

As for all of this… the family friend is William, correct? He must have been so surprised to see Harry there. It strikes me that there were several announcements this week about Harry – the Spare paperback and his upcoming trip to New York – which were probably timed out as a distraction to Harry’s secret trip. The Daily Mail was throwing tantrums about New York and the memoir, and they completely missed “stalking the Spencers at a family funeral.”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.