Prince Harry and Prince William to reunite for Diana statue unveiling

The statue has been placed in a garden surrounded by 4,000 of the late princess’s favourite flowers

Princess Diana, Prince Harry and Prince Willam (AFP via Getty Images)

Prince Harry and Prince William will reunite in London to unveil a statue of PrincessDiana on what would have been her 60^th birthday.

The ceremony, which will take place in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace on Thursday, 1 July, will be the brothers’ first appearance together since Prince Philip’s funeral in April.

Harry and William first commissioned the statue in 2017, on the 29^th anniversary of their mother’s death, saying at the time that they hoped it would help visitors to the palace “reflect on her life and her legacy”.

It was created by sculptor Ian Rank-Broadly, who is also the artist behind the portrait of the Queen which features on all UK coins.

The Duke of Sussex, who has settled in California with his wife Meghan Markle and their two children, Archie and Lilibet, arrived in the UK last week, giving himself enough time to self-isolate before the ceremony.

He will attend the event with William, members of Diana’s family, Rank-Broadly and the garden designer, Pip Morrison.

The brothers were last seen together in public at their grandfather’s funeral, just over a month after Harry alluded to a rift between the two brothers during an interview with Oprah Winfrey.

At the time, he told the host that their relationship “is one of space” since he made the decision to step down from his duties as a senior royal.

“As I’ve said before, I love William to bits,” he said. “He’s my brother. We’ve been through hell together. We have a shared experience, but we were on different paths.”

Rumours of a rift have been further fueled by royal author Robert Lacey in his new book, Battle of Brothers: William, Harry and the Inside Story of a Family in Tumult, in which he claims William split the joint Kensington Palace household after a “furious confrontation” with Harry.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex moved into Frogmore Cottage in April 2019, after living at Kensington Palace with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for less than a year.

Ahead of the statue’s unveiling, on Wednesday Harry made a surprise visit to an awards event at Kew Gardens for children’s charity WellChild.

He was pictured chatting with children and their parents, telling them that it was “quite a juggle” to look after both his newborn daughter, Lilibet, and two-year-old son, Archie.