Prince William and King Charles appear at rare joint engagement in united front after Prince Harry's bombshell interview

Daily Mail​

16-05-2025

King Charles and Prince William put on a united front as they visited Westminster Abbey for the Order of the Bath Service on Friday morning.
The Prince of Wales, 42, stood in solidarity with his father, 76, during a rare joint appearance at the historic church - just weeks after the Duke of Sussex revealed his fragmented relationship with the king.
William arrived at Westminster Abbey at around 11am dressed in full regalia - which included a red cloak and various gold embellishments - for the event which is held every four years.
Meanwhile King Charles also stepped out donning a similar elaborate red robe with gold adornments and a full train atop his military uniform.
The joint appearance from father and son comes just weeks after Prince Harry opened up about his strained relationship with the King and Prince William in a bombshell interview.
Speaking to the BBC after losing an appeal over his security arrangements while he visits the UK, the Duke of Sussex claimed Charles 'won't speak to me' and alluded to the king's health by saying 'I don't know how much longer my father has left'.
The Duke, 40, went to court hoping to change the decision to give him downgraded security after Megxit - however after his appeal was thrown out.
In the extraordinary interview, the California-based royal alleged his father could have 'resolved' the dispute over his security arrangements if he wanted to - after Harry claimed to have 'uncovered shocking truths' about the Royals' involvement in decision.
Harry also alleged his father could have 'resolved' the dispute over his security arrangements if he wanted to - after Harry claimed to have 'uncovered shocking truths' about the Royals' involvement in decision.
He claimed his 'jaw dropped' when he discovered the Royal Household sat on the 'secretive' Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) that decided to withdraw Harry's taxpayer-funded police protection in the UK.
He insinuated that more could have been done by the monarch, as well as the King's private secretary Sir Clive Alderton, who had a position on Ravec.
Harry told the BBC: 'There is a lot of control and ability in my father's hands.
'Ultimately this whole thing could be resolved through him.'
He added that while Charles 'won't speak to me because of this security stuff', Harry hoped to reconcile with his family as 'there's no point continuing to fight anymore'.
Despite his plea for reconciliation, experts suggested the scorched-earth interview may, in fact, have driven the wedge between Harry and the royal family even further - as a palace source claimed they have 'zero trust' in the Duke.
'The family feel that private conversations with Harry are not possible,' an insider told Hello, after the emotionally charged BBC interview.
The outlet further claimed that even if Charles were to rekindle a relationship with his youngest son, the same can't be said for Prince William, who has reportedly abandoned all hope of repairing his relationship with his brother.
William, instead, appears focussed on supporting Charles, 76, with Friday's engagement at Westminster Abbey marking a rare, joint appearance for the monarch and his heir.
The event will be Charles' first Service as Sovereign, with William set to be installed as Great Master of the Order during the ceremony, which will include the oath taking and installation of five Knights.
The Service for the Order of the Bath is held every four years; the monarch traditionally attends every other service - meaning once every eight years - while the Prince of Wales, as Great Master, attends each service.
The King last attended the ceremony as Prince of Wales in 2022 in his role as Great Master of the Order - one that he has held since 1975.
During his final appearance as the Great Master, before William takes over from his father on Friday, Charles donned his full regalia for the ceremony that honours officers of the Armed Services and civil servants.
It is a role traditionally carried out by the monarch, however Charles performed the duties on behalf of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, during the 2022 ceremony.
Charles first stepped in for the late Queen, who died on September 8, 2022, at the Order of the Bath Service in 2014 - after aides feared that the steps at the Abbey were 'too steep' for her while dressed in full regalia.
Ahead of Friday's service, King Charles joined Queen Camilla at a charity function in London on Tuesday, May 13.
The royal couple attended a reception and awards ceremony for Elephant Family, set up by Camilla's late brother Mark Shand, who tragically died aged just 62 after falling and suffering a head injury in 2014.
The star-studded event at The Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew, West London, attracted guests including Princess Beatrice - who looked stylish in a red Rebecca Vallance gown - Lady Marina Windsor, Ronaldo Nazario, the Brazilian footballer, actors Ed Westwick and Amy Jackson and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
In an impromptu speech the King, who accompanied his wife as joint president of the charity, which is now part of Charles' British Asian Trust, said 'collaboration is far better than conflict' as he gave an impromptu speech.
WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF THE ORDER OF THE BATH?
Founded in 1725 by George I, the Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry which usually honours officers of the Armed Services, as well as a small number of civil servants.
The title of the Order, which carries the motto Tria Juncta in uno (Three joined in one), has its origins in the late Middle Ages and stems from the ritual washing of a would-be knight as he prepared for the conferment of a knighthood.
Before they could be knighted the candidates had to undertake various rituals designed to purify their inner soul through fasting, vigils, prayer and bathing.
The Order was first mentioned in an official document in 1128 when 15-year-old Geoffrey count of Anjou was knighted, and to mark Henry V's coronation in 1413 'fifty gallant young gentlemen, candidates for Knighthood of the Bath, according to custom went into the baths prepared severally for them'.
Many traditional ceremonies had started to disappear by the end of the fifteenth century, although 'Knights of the Bath' were still made at coronations. However, the Order was revived by George I in 1725 as a military order when then Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole, needed an additional source for political rewards.
George I's statutes stated that: 'Whereas in case of a war in Europe we are determined that this Realm should be in a posture of defence against the attempts of our enemies, We do hereby ordain that from henceforth every Companion of the said Military Order in case of any danger of invasion from foreign enemies or from rebellion at home shall maintain at his own cost four men-at-arms for any number of days the Sovereign shall think proper.'
At the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 the Prince Regent, who would go on to become George IV) expanded the order and formally abolished the bathing rites, as well as vigils and fasting.
The installing of new Knights, putting them into their stalls at the Order's spiritual home - the Lady Chapel of King Henry VII at Westminster Abbey - ended in 1847.
But it was revived again in 1913, this time by George V, in a modified form that continues today with Knights installed as a group.
The erection of stall-plates, banners and crests of the Knights was followed again. These markers hang above the stall until a Knight's death when they are returned to his family, but a copper stall-plate enamelled with his coat of arms remains as a permanent record.
Knights may wait many years before a stall becomes vacant - Lord Mountbatten could not take up his place for 17 years.
Women were admitted to the Order in 1971, with Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester the first Dame Grand Cross.
The Order now consists of the Sovereign (The Queen), the Great Master (The Prince of Wales) and three classes of members, with statutes providing for 120 Knights and Dames Grand Cross, 295 Knights and Dames Commander and 1,455 Companions.
During the function, Camilla, 77, became emotional as she watched a posthumous video of her brother in which he spoke about his 'optimism' for saving endangered elephants that brought her to tears.
Meanwhile, Prince William handed out honours to English Olympian Keely Hodgkinson and former Formula One driver and sports broadcaster Martin Brundle at Windsor Castle yesterday.
Speaking as Hodgkinson, 23, received an MBE at Windsor Castle yesterday, Prince William told her that Princess Charlotte, 10, watched her win gold at the women's 800m at the Paris Olympics last year.
The athlete later revealed that the Prince, 42, also shared that Charlotte, who recently celebrated her 10th birthday, is currently training for the 400m 'at the minute and the hurdles'.
During their exchange at Tuesday's investiture ceremony, William also told Hodgkinson that 'he wished he could be there' to watch her take gold in person.
'He told me that he remembers me winning and that he wished he could be there to see it himself,' the Manchester-born Olympian told PA.