Prince Harry wearing his military uniform alongside Prince William during a vigil for Queen Elizabeth II went viral on TikTok on the two-year anniversary of her death.
The Duke of Sussex was forced to wear a morning suit at his grandmother’s funeral due to a palace policy that only working royals could pay their respects in military uniform.
However, palace aides backed down and created a special vigil for Elizabeth’s grandchildren days before she was laid to rest at which Harry was allowed to wear the colors of the Blues and Royals, his former British army regiment.
Prince William leads Prince Harry into Westminster Hall for a vigil on September 17, 2024, honoring Queen Elizabeth II who was lying in state following her death on September 8. It was the only memorial event at which Harry was given permission to wear his military uniform.
Aaron Chown-WPA Pool/Getty Images
Footage of Prince William leading his brother and the queen’s other grandchildren into Westminster Hall, where the monarch was lying in state, went newly viral on TikTok as Britain marked two years since she passed away.
A clip was liked almost 50,000 times and viewed more than 380,000 times after it was posted with the message: “Queen Elizabeth II’s grandchildren stand vigil at her coffin in 2022.”
The special event for her grandchildren was unprecedented, and a backlash was engulfing the palace at the time over the fact Prince Andrew had been given permission to wear his military uniform at a similar vigil for the queen’s children.
The Duke of York was also not a working royal, having quit public life over his friendship with serial abuser Jeffrey Epstein.
Prince Harry and Prince Andrew weren’t allowed to wear uniform to the actual funeral at Westminster Abbey, on September 19, despite both having seen active combat.
At the time, the criticism became intense to the point even sworn critics of Harry, such as Piers Morgan, rode to his defense.
Morgan used his column in The Sun on September 14, 2022, five days before the funeral, to write: “I’m not a fan of Prince Harry, to put it mildly. I think his behaviour since quitting Britain and royal duty has been appallingly selfish, greedy, and damaging to the monarchy.
“But one thing I will never begrudge him is the right to be properly respected for his military service which included two tours of Afghanistan.
“And I don’t think it’s right that he has been banned from wearing his uniform at events to commemorate the death of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.”
Harry did not discuss the vigil in his memoir, Spare, but he did look back on his experience walking with Prince William in a procession behind the queen’s coffin and compared it to walking behind Princess Diana‘s in 1997.
“When the funeral finally took place,” he wrote, “Willy and I, barely exchanging a word, took our familiar places, set off on our familiar journey, behind yet another coffin draped in the Royal Standard, sitting atop another horse-pulled gun carriage. Same route, same sights—though this time, unlike at previous funerals, we were shoulder to shoulder. Also, music was playing.”
Jack Royston is Newsweek‘s chief royal correspondent, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek’s The Royals Facebook page.
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