Kate Middleton and Prince William stepped out for their first public appearance amid mounting speculation over royal family tensions.
On Monday, the Prince and Princess of Wales marked the return to Southport to make a heartfelt outing to show their support to the community following the horror attacks that devastated the Merseyside town last summer.
The attack in July 2024 claimed the lives of three girls: Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, Bebe King, 6, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9, who had been attending a Taylor Swift–themed lesson.
Princess Kate and Prince William made the visit to Southport last October to stand alongside the local community following the incident.
The visit, which marked the Princess's first public engagement since she completed chemotherapy.
Notably, Kate and William marked the outing amid the rising of tension in the royal family after Harry sat down with his father, King Charles, for a 55-minute, one-on-one meeting earlier this month.
As per the Daily Mail, Prince William remains opposed to Harry rejoining the royal fold, astance reportedly fueling tension between him and King Charles, royal author Tina Brown wrote in a New York Times op-ed.
"Charles knows that in these times of ugly political discord, a fractured royal family is a bad look," Brown wrote. "
The author added, “But it was also the fulfillment of paternal longing. It’s no secret that Charles desperately misses his prodigal son who, in earlier days, was always the fun, ebullient scamp compared with the haughtier, more Hanoverian William."
Brown mentioned it’s “understandably enraging” for William to watch Harry upstage his engagements with charity appearances and a Ukraine visit, despite years of criticism aimed at the royals.
To note, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down as senior working members of the British Royal Family in 2020 and the couple made bombshell claims against the firm.
