When a member of the Royal Family dies, the royals often step outside to greet the public who have gathered to pay their respects.
The tradition was most visible in 1997, when Princes William and Harry, then aged just 15 and 12, walked among the crowds at Kensington Palace as a multitude assembled following the tragic death of Princess Diana.
So when Queen Elizabeth II died a quarter of a century later in 2022, the brothers once again walked out together at a time of national mourning to talk with the people.
But this time it was in entirely different circumstances.
Yes, the brothers were now fully grown men, and married too, each walking side by side with their wife – but more importantly, they were now sadly estranged after the Sussexes dramatically left ‘The Firm’ in January 2020, stepping down as senior royals.
The awkwardness of the encounter was so great that Princess Kate found it ‘one of the hardest things she’d ever had to do’, according to a book.
And to make matters worse, it seems Meghan had forgotten that proper royal etiquette, which dictates the more senior royals, in this case William and Kate, walk ahead of junior members.
Footage from the occasion has now been unearthed which seems to show Harry having to pull his wife back with his arm and slow down his walking pace so that she didn’t pull ahead of his older brother.
Despite having not spoken in months, Harry was aware that the eyes of the world were watching his and Meghan’s every move at that crucial moment.
As they turned past the gate of Windsor Castle, he appeared to strategically slow down his walk while subtly using his hand to guide her back into place.
But in a slowed-down clip of the moment, which was viewed widely after being posted on TikTok, royal watchers commented that Meghan seemed to be determined to break royal protocol.
One said: ‘Meghan just does not want to accept hierarchy.’
Another posted that after six years with Harry: ‘She should know protocol by now.’
A third commented: ‘Harry knows what she’s doing. She’s trying to be the spotlight as always.’
Another asked: ‘Why did she need constant reminding?’, to which someone else replied: ‘She knew but was determined to always try and be first.’
Other comments included ‘Meghan wouldn’t accept not being the star’, while someone else questioned: ‘How does she not get this? It’s not that hard.’
The instance was not the first time Meghan had drawn controversy for seemingly being prepared to go against royal protocol.
On her first ever engagement with the Queen in June 2018 she raised a few eyebrows when she was filmed entering a car before the monarch. (Although Harry later claimed in his memoir Spare she only did so because the Queen had specifically asked Meghan to get in before her.)
After all, Meghan hasn’t been the only person to have seemingly made a royal faux pas in the company of the Queen.
US President Donald Trump caught a wave of social media attention when he gaffed by walking in front of the monarch as they inspected a guard of honour in 2018.
In a family so steeped in tradition and protocol, its members were taught royal etiquette and traditions by royal household staff from a young age.
As Meghan had married into The Firm at the age of 36, she had obviously not been brought up to appreciate all of the rules of life in the limelight like her husband.
The American actress had to learn how to give a proper royal handshake, stand up when the Queen does, avoid any PDA and remember not to sign any autographs.
Her training also included how to greet dignitaries – and expect to be greeted – as well as how to behave on royal engagements and the intricacies of palace life.
And although the etiquette of walking in the correct order may seem arcane, it is taken very seriously by those in the institution.
So when Meghan and Harry stepped out of the Windsor estate with Kate and William on September 10, 2022 – two days after the Queen’s death – they had thousands of people watching their every move.
It was the first time that the two couples had all appeared in public together since Commonwealth Day on March 9, 2020, just weeks before the first Covid lockdown.
Many of those in the crowd at Windsor were amazed by the surprise joint appearance, expressing their happiness online that the ‘Fab Four’ had reunited.
When the quartet appeared they were greeted with applause as they inspected the sea of floral tributes laid outside the gates of the royal estate in honour of their much-loved grandmother.
But the brothers barely interacted during the sombre 40-minute walkabout and appeared to stick to their two couples.
Body language expert Judi James told the Mail that there were ‘no signs of affection’ and lots of ‘awkwardness’.
She said William had a ‘puffed chest and air of confidence’ which made him look like ‘the leader and instigator’.
It was later reported that their father the King had ordered his warring sons to set aside their ongoing feud ahead of the Queen’s funeral.
Royal sources said William extended an ’11th-hour olive branch’ to his younger brother Prince Harry by asking him to join him on a walkabout after taking a phone call from Charles.
More details from the event emerged in November 2023, when Sussex-friendly biographer Omid Scobie published his book Endgame, which claimed it had all been orchestrated by the Waleses’ press secretary to ‘keep up appearances’.
The book stated that the ‘silence was palpable’ during the 150-second car journey from their residences to the Long Walk, which Scobie said must have seemed like ‘an eternity’.
The awkward Windsor walkabout revealed the sorry state of the relationship between the brothers, who as boys were inseparable as they found solace in one another while they coped with the shattering loss of Princess Diana.
William’s marriage to Kate contributed barely a quiver to this remarkable relationship as two became three.
When Meghan arrived with her Hollywood glamour the threesome was dubbed the Fab Four – but it would soon be revealed there were cracks beneath the surface.
At the time of the walkabout, their feud had only worsened after Harry and Meghan dramatically left their position as senior royals and moved abroad (dubbed by the Press as ‘Megxit’), and later took the decision to speak to Oprah Winfrey in a bombshell interview in which they effectively accused the Royal Family of racism.
To both experts and royal fans, it looked for a moment that the occasion could have provided a turning point in the frayed relationship of the foursome.
Scobie later claimed on Twitter that the invitation was made at the ’11th hour’, declaring: ‘It is, without a doubt, a significant moment in the history of the relationship between the two brothers.’
One royal fan in the crowd who spoke to Harry and Meghan on the Windsor walkabout day told MailOnline: ‘It’s lovely to see them both together. Maybe they can get back to a proper relationship.
‘Hopefully the healing between Harry and his brother can start now. I’m just so excited to have seen them both together. It’s lovely.’
But it proved to be a false dawn. Although they had temporarily put aside the differences that had been sparked by Megxit, the walkabout was not a lasting peace process.
Veteran royal correspondent Robert Jobson wrote in his 2023 book Our King the idea that the walkabout caused some kind of rapprochement was an ‘illusion’.
Things would get worse only a few months later when Harry and Meghan released their bombshell Netflix show, and then in January 2023 the Prince released his tell-all memoir Spare.
And although the group would appear alongside the other royals at the Queen’s funeral, the Windsor walkabout would be the last time the four of them appeared together.
Despite Meghan seemingly forgetting royal protocol and trying to walk in front of William and Kate, some royal fans look back fondly on the occasion.
For those who hope that someday the siblings will bury the hatchet and resurrect the brotherhood bond forged following Diana’s death, the brief truce at the Windsor walkabout is the closest thing they have to a reconciliation.
