Palace aides reportedly orchestrated the Jubilee Thanksgiving service so that Prince Harry and Prince William wouldn’t have to see each other.
The brothers arrived almost 20 minutes apart at St Paul’s Cathedral yesterday and sat on opposite sides during the service, without having to come face-to-face throughout the entirety of the event.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex sat away from senior working members of the Royal Family, including Harry’s father Prince Charles, Camilla and William and Kate.
The pair took their seats at the iconic cathedral in London at 11.08am - almost 20 minutes before William and Kate sat down at 11.27am.
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They sat in the second row of the congregation, behind the Earl and Countess of Wessex, who were in the front row with their children.
Palace aides reportedly spent months working on the service to make sure Harry and William did not come face-to-face, according to The Sun.
Harry and Meghan appeared upbeat however, and were seen talking and laughing with friends and family.
The service was attended by more than 400 people, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, charity workers and members of the armed forces, but not by Her Majesty the Queen.
She had experienced “some discomfort” during Thursday’s events.
As the service ended, Harry and Meghan left one minute after the senior royals did. The family did not meet on the steps outside, but quickly returned to their cars.
Harry and Meghan reportedly left London immediately without attending the royal reception and arrived back at Frogmore Cottage before 2.30pm, according to the Sun.
The Thanksgiving service was the first royal engagement attended by Meghan and Harry with senior members of the family since the Commonwealth Service in March 2020.
The couple arrived in the UK on Wednesday from their home in California, along with their children Archie, 3, and Lilibet, 1.
Although Meghan and Harry did not appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during the Trooping the Colour, they have been attending other events during the Platinum Jubilee weekend.
A rift reportedly developed between Harry and William when William expressed concern over Harry and Meghan’s fast-moving relationship ahead of their wedding in 2018.
During the revealing Oprah Winfrey interview Harry claimed that his brother was “trapped” within the royal system.
Since leaving the UK in early 2020, Harry has only seen his brother in public twice - at the funeral of Prince Philip and at an unveiling of a statue of their late mother Princess Diana.
