Prince William and Harry were ‘virtually back to back’ at their uncle’s funeral service – as fellow mourner says it was ‘very sad to see them apart’

Prince William and Prince Harry stood ‘virtually back to back’ while they chatted with mourners at their uncle’s funeral, a witness has claimed.

The brothers spoke with other mourners at Thursday’s memorial service for their uncle Lord Fellowes, but did not exchange a single word despite being ‘only five yards from each other’, a source told The Sun.

William and Harry are said to have been sat ‘two or three rows back from the front’ and on ‘opposite sides of the aisle’, with family members in the ‘rest of the seats between them’, the newspaper reported.

Former councillor David Hocking, 93, who was at the service, said ‘it was very sad’ to see the Princes apart and told The Times, ‘I hope they got talking at the reception’ – which Mr Hocking says he did not attend. 

He also claimed that Harry and William were both very discreet at the service and that ‘if you didn’t know they were there you might not recognise them’. 

It comes as a royal expert has warned that a ‘reconciliation may never happen’ between feuding brothers because the future King is likely ‘hurt’ by his ‘brother’s betrayals and snipes’.

The interior of St Mary’s Church in Snettisham is pictured Friday, the day after the funeral

Mr Hocking said that William ‘didn’t stand out in the crowd, neither did Harry’, while they attended the service.

He recalled how a mourner who sat next to him turned to ask,'”Who’s that?” I said it’s Prince William.’

‘He said: “I thought I’d recognised him. I didn’t know who he was”,’ he recalled.

Another mourner who attended the memorial said the brothers ‘came in right before it started, after almost everyone else’, telling The Sun: ‘Most people didn’t notice them.’

The insider revealed that the pair mingled with family and friends afterwards in the garden at Lady Jane Fellowes’ home next door to the church.

William and Harry allegedly stood ‘back to back’ and ‘yards apart’, with one source telling the newspaper: ‘They weren’t together — they were apart.’

‘We wanted to speak to them but they had a lot of family who hadn’t seen them in a long time, especially Harry,’ the mourner said.

The source added that ‘a lot of people were taking the chance to speak’ to the brothers and that both were still at the reception after they left. 

The insider also claimed that later, while they were on a walk, they ‘saw Harry driven off in a black Range Rover’.

Lord Fellows at the High Court in February 2008 to give evidence in Princess Diana’s inquest

The service at St Mary’s Church, pictured Friday, was attended by about 300 people

A ‘reconciliation may never happen’ between feuding brothers Prince William and Prince Harry, a royal expert has claimed, alleging that the future King is likely ‘hurt’ by his ‘brother’s betrayals and snipes’. Pictured: William and Harry attending the Grenfell Tower National Memorial Service at St Paul’s Cathedral on December 14, 2017 in London

After learning of the brothers lack of interaction at the memorial, former BBC royal correspondent Michael Cole said it appears there is ‘no reunion’ on the horizon for the pair.

While he was not at the memorial himself, Mr Cole noted how the pair were said to have ‘sat apart’ and ‘did not look at each other’ during the service. He also claimed that mourners described the ‘atmosphere’ around the brothers as having been fairly ‘frosty’.

‘If Prince Harry imagined that this secret dash and sudden appearance might start to thaw the ice cap that has frozen between them, he was going to be greatly disappointed,’ Mr Cole told MailOnline yesterday. ‘Prince William did not look at him, let alone acknowledge his presence.’

The vicar who conducted the service also confirmed that the warring royal brothers walked ‘a few people apart’ as they left 14th century St Mary’s Church in Snettisham, Norfolk.

The vicar also said he did not recall Harry and William speaking to each other at a reception after the service, but said there were a ‘lot of family members and friends speaking to them’. 

Michael Cole, (pictured) former BBC royal correspondent, said that although the pair both attended the memorial service for their uncle Lord Fellowes on Thursday it appears there was ‘no reunion’ between the pair

Mr Cole said that interactions between Harry and William on Thursday ‘were not just minimal, they were invisible’.

‘This was not a happy meeting of two brothers who, as boys, could not have been closer,’ he told MailOnline.

‘This was no reunion. They sat apart and did not look at each other. On a sunny day, the atmosphere around the two brothers was frosty, said one mourner.’ 

He added: ‘As things are at present, reconciliation may never happen, such is the hurt Prince William feels at his brother’s betrayals and snipes in interviews, a television series and his ghost-written book ‘Spare’, the biggest-selling ‘autobiography’ ever published.’

Mr Cole’s recount of the service seemingly echoed that of Reverend Dan Tansey, the at vicar St Mary’s Church, who admitted he was surprised to see both William and Harry at the service which was attended by around 300 people on Thursday.

He told MailOnline on Friday: ‘The memorial service was yesterday. The private funeral took place earlier in the week with just [close] family.’

Describing the appearance of the estranged siblings, Reverend Tansey said: ‘Yes, it was quite a surprise to me.’ 

Asked if Harry and William were sitting near each other in the church, he added: ‘I don’t know because I was in the vestry.

‘When I came out to start the service, they had arrived, but I didn’t even know they were there until after the service when I was meeting people on the way out.

‘They came out and shook my hand, and said hello. I couldn’t see where they were sat in the church.

‘I was just greeting one person at a time as they came out. They came out a few people apart.’

Describing the service, he said: ‘I am at the front of the church with my glasses on and I can see the front row, and that’s about it.’

Reverend Tansey continued: ‘I had been preparing for a good half hour beforehand, so I didn’t see anyone coming through the front door.

Prince William and Harry at the unveiling of a statue of their mother Diana at Kensington Palace in July 2021. The event was attended by Lady Jane Fellowes, wife of Lord Fellowes

The service was at the 14th century St Mary’s Church in Snettisham, Norfolk, pictured Friday

Reverend Dan Tansey conducted the service at St Mary’s Church in Snettisham on Thursday

‘It was a lovely service and people wanted to be there for someone who was really well-respected in Snettisham.

‘It was only as I was thanking the congregation as they left that Prince William was shaking my hand, and then very quickly after that, so did Prince Harry.

‘It was a surprise but a really pleasant one that they had both come, but maybe less shocking that William was there.

‘On the way out, they both said thank you for the service and I thanked them for coming. At the reception afterwards, there was a very relaxed and cordial atmosphere.

‘I don’t recollect them speaking to each other but there were a lot of family members and friends speaking to them.

‘It would have meant a lot to Lord Fellowes to have them both at the service. He loved them both very much.’

Queen Elizabeth II and Lord Fellowes aboard the royal yacht Britannia in Florida in May 1991

Lord Fellowes was played by actor Andrew Havill (centre) in Netflix series The Crown 

Lord Fellowes had three children – Alexander (left, on his wedding day with Alexandra Finlay in 2013), Laura and Eleanor (both right, at Harry and Meghan’s wedding in Windsor in 2018)

Reverend Tansey said a potentially more formal celebration of Lord Fellowes’s  life was still being considered to take place in London at a later date.

Married to the late Princess Diana’s sister, Lady Jane, he was also a long-time Buckingham Palace courtier who worked for the late Queen Elizabeth II for 22 years until 1999.

It was a period which covered both the break-down of his sister-in-law’s marriage to the then Prince Charles and her tragic death in 1997.

Reverend Tansey said of a future service: ‘I believe it is still on the cards, but because I am only the parish vicar locally, I wouldn’t be involved in anything in London.

‘The last I heard it was still on the cards to have some kind of formal memorial. Whether it would be at the Lords or something, I really don’t know. 

Lord Fellowes marries Lady Jane Spencer at the Guards’ Chapel at Wellington Barracks in London in 1978. To the right of Lady Fellowes is her sister who later became Princess Diana

Lord Fellowes with the King, then Prince Charles, at Epsom Racecourse in Surrey in 1993

Lord Fellowes with Lady Jane Fellowes (right) and their daughter Laura Jane Fellowes (left) at the wedding of William Duckworth-Chad and Lucy Greenwell in Sudbourne, Suffolk, in 2011

‘As far as I understand it is still a plan. I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful. I have to think of their privacy.’

Describing the turnout at the memorial service however, he added: ‘It was a full house and it’s a fair-sized church. It was around about 300 people. There was a lot of family and friends. It was by invitation as far as I understand.’

Reverend Tansey admitted he had not been told in advance that both princes were going to the service.

He said: ‘Thankfully, I had not been informed so I wasn’t able to say anything to people who kept asking me about it. I was in blissful ignorance.’

Reverend Tansey added: ‘It was wonderful that the princes could both be there to support their aunt and cousins.’

And a church warden, who declined to be named, told MailOnline: ‘It was wonderful that both Princes were able to attend their uncle’s memorial service [on Thursday] at St Mary’s Church.

The wedding of Lord Fellowes and Diana’s sister Lady Jane Spencer in London in 1978 

Lord Fellowes (top left) with Princess Diana and her family in 1995. Sitting (from left): Diana, Lady Sarah McCorquodale (sister), Frances Shand Kydd (mother), and Jane Fellowes (sister). Standing (from left): Lord Fellowes, Charles, Earl Spencer (brother) and Neil McCorquodale

Lord Fellowes is pictured (back right) at the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana in 1981

‘The service was a lovely family occasion celebrating the life of such a special man. Many friends were also present and also many members of the St Mary’s Church family.’

Thursday it emerged that despite his PR team previously guiding members of the media that he did not plan to return to the UK for events to mark his uncle’s death, citing ongoing ‘security’ fears, Harry flew out of the US on Tuesday and slipped into the UK without fanfare.

He then travelled to Norfolk to attend the family memorial.

Harry’s spokesman failed to response to a request for comment about his attendance.

Kensington Palace declined to comment on behalf of William, citing it as a private matter.