Princes William & Harry scrap speech plans for Princess Diana statue & could make separate statements as rift rumbles on
PRINCES William and Harry are scrapping speech plans for the long-awaited unveiling of the Diana, Princess of Wales statue, it has been claimed.
The brothers may instead make separate statements as their rift rumbles on.
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Talks are continuing over whether separate or joint statements will be issued on Thursday in relation to the Kensington Palace event.
And, according to the Mail on Sunday, William and Harry have ditched plans to deliver speeches marking the statue of their late mum, Diana, Princess of Wales.
Harry, 36, is currently staying with his cousin Eugenie, 31, and her hubby Jack Brooksbank, 35, at the historic Grade II-listed home in Windsor prior to the poignant event.
The unveiling of the specially commissioned statue of their beloved late mum on July 1 will be the second time the brothers have come face-to-face since Harry's bombshell chat with Oprah Winfrey.
The pair last saw each other at Prince Philip's funeral back in April.
It comes as:
- The Queen was spotted driving towards Frogmore Cottage after her grandson touched down at Heathrow
- A royal expert claims Meghan and Harry 'want money for doing very little in return'
- Harry and William have been forced to slash the guest list for the unveiling of a new statue to commemorate their mother
- The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been slammed by Dumbarton locals - after rejecting it for Archie over the word 'dumb'
- And the couple say they weren't being misleading when they told Oprah they'd been 'cut off' by the Royal Family after Megxit
The guest list for the ceremony on what would have been their mother's 60th birthday has now been slashed from more than 100 to just a handful of people.
With the brothers set to stand shoulder-to-shoulder despite their ongoing bitter row, dozens of Diana's pals, ex-staff and supporters were due to gather at Kensington Palace.
But because Freedom Day has been delayed, the princes have hit the brakes on a large ceremony and will instead only be welcoming a few Spencer relatives, reported
Guests who haven't made the scaled back list - including Elton John and David Furnish - will instead be invited to a rescheduled date in September.
One said: "Neither are offering an olive branch.
"I fear it will be the same as at Prince Philip's funeral, a nod of recognition and that's about it."
Another source admitted to being worried that "on the day it will be difficult to separate the statue from the occasion, which is now loaded with all sorts of unwelcome baggage."
But one mate predicted there will be no sign of lingering tension between the battling bros on the big day, when "all will be lovely".
Royal commentator Angela Levin has warned that any private conversations with the Sussexes would appear on social media or in the press "in no time".
"I think the Royal Family would be crazy to talk to Meghan and Harry," she said.
"In no time it would be out in magazines and on social media."
It comes as Meghan and Harry’s explosive interviews about the royal family “remain a problem” despite the Royal Family hoping their tell-all chat with US presenter Oprah Winfrey would mark a “fresh start”, another author has claimed.
Robert Lacey, a historical consultant for Netflix’s The Crown, believes the family can’t have “a serious negotiation” if pals of the couple keep chipping in and if leaks continue.
Lacey has also claimed that Prince William and Kate Middleton did not have a sit-down chat with Harry after Prince Philip's funeral.
According to the royal author, the Cambridges feared their conversations would be leaked as family anger "ran deep" during the emotional service at Windsor in April.
Lacey, author of Battle of the Brothers, has also suggested Prince William “simply didn’t want” Harry and Meghan around and felt the Duchess was "stealing" his brother.
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He claims that the brothers had an explosive row over Meghan’s alleged bullying of Palace staff - which ended with Harry hanging up on William.
The Duchess of Sussex has strongly denied reports that she bullied staff at Kensington Palace, and a spokesperson for the couple has insisted that the allegations are part of a smear campaign.