- Title: File of Britain's Princes William and Harry ahead of Diana statue unveiling
- Date: 30th June 2021
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - APRIL 29, 2011) (REUTERS) HARRY AND WILLIAM WALKING INTO LONDON'S WESTMINSTER ABBEY AHEAD OF WILLIAM'S MARRIAGE TO KATE MIDDLETON
- Embargoed: 14th July 2021 11:21
- Keywords: Diana Meghan Markle Prince Harry Prince William Princess Diana royals statue
- Location: VARIOUS
- City: VARIOUS
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Europe,Royals
- Reuters ID: LVA00CEJLGRIF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: STORY - 1213-BRITAIN-ROYALS/DIANA-COMMENTATOR FOR ROYAL COMMENTATOR PENNY JUNOR
Britain's feuding princes, William and Harry, will put their differences aside on tomorrow (Thursday July 01) to attend the unveiling of a statue to their late mother Princess Diana on what would have been her 60th birthday.
For most of their lives, the royal brothers have been close, united by the shared trauma of losing their mother who died aged 36 in a 1997 Paris car crash when William was 15 and Harry 12.
But since Harry's 2018 wedding to his American actress wife Meghan, relations between them have soured and an explosive interview that the couple gave chat show host Oprah Winfrey in March marked a new low.
In it, Harry, now 36, criticized his father Charles and said William, 39, and the family were trapped, while the couple accused one unnamed royal of making a racist remark.
Thursday's unveiling in London of the statue, which the princes commissioned four years ago to celebrate Diana's life, provides a rare opportunity for rapprochement, with Harry returning from his new home in the United States.
"Unless one of them is going to say sorry, and I think that probably has to be Harry, I can't see this relationship at the moment mending itself," royal commentator Penny Junor said.
My understanding is the boys are not speaking to one other, certainly not in the way brothers normally speak," she told Reuters.
Harry told Winfrey that their relationship was "space at the moment," but hoped time would heal it.
"I love William to bits, he's my brother, we've been through hell together and we have a shared experience. But we're on different paths," he said.
Thursday's statue unveiling in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace where Diana lived, and which is now home to William and his family, will be a small event with the princes, Diana's close family and the sculptor Ian Rank-Broadley among the few attending.
(Production: Sarah Mills, Mike Holden) - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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