Friends of Prince Harry have said it is “very sad” that he is not planning to return to the U.K. for the funeral of his uncle.
Robert Fellowes, a great keeper of royal secrets, died at the beginning of the month. He was married to Princess Diana’s sister Lady Jane, who is just 67.
He was also the late Queen Elizabeth’s private secretary and took the palace’s side in the power struggle over then-Prince Charles’ failing marriage. Diana’s relationship with her sister inevitably suffered. However, Jane and Harry reconciled and she gave a reading at Harry’s wedding to Meghan Markle in 2018, highlighting her important place in their lives.
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Although Harry was no great fan of Fellowes personally, whom Diana regarded as one of the leading “men in grey” who conspired against her, friends of the family have told The Daily Beast that Harry would have liked, in normal circumstances, to attend the funeral out of respect to his aunt.
A source close to Harry, however, told The Daily Beast that Harry would not be returning to the U.K. for the funeral.
Some outlets have claimed that Harry is not returning for the funeral due to the fact that he no longer feels safe on British soil having been stripped of automatic security while in the country. But a source told The Daily Beast that while this was part of the picture, challenging security arrangements were only one of a “multitude of reasons” why visits to the U.K. were problematic.
Harry and Meghan are due to travel to Colombia on Thursday for a tour of the country supporting an initiative aimed at combatting violence against children.
Another source, an old friend of Harry’s, told The Daily Beast: “It’s just all very sad. The idea that he wouldn’t be there to support Jane in her grief would have been unimaginable a few years ago.”
