Prince William, heir to the British throne, and Prince Harry have had a tumultuous relationship over the past several years. After the infamous "Megxit," which resulted in Harry and his wife Meghan Markle stepping down as senior royals and moving to California, the brothers' relationship was strained.
Julie Montagu, an American who is a viscountess, shared with Fox News Digital that there is hope in the U.K. that the brothers will reconcile as they were incredibly close and "leaned on each other" following the death of their mother, Princess Diana.
Diana was 36 years old when she died on Aug. 31, 1997, following a car collision in Paris, France. She was known as "The People's Princess" despite her disdain for the press and life in the spotlight. She divorced then-Prince Charles in 1996, and paparazzi ultimately chased her to death. William was 15, and Harry was 12, when they lost their mother.
Prince William and Prince Harry "leaned" on each other following their mother's death in 1997 and there is hope that the brothers will mend their relationship following Queen Elizabeth II's death. (Fox News Digital)
On Sept. 6, 1997, William and Harry walked alongside their father Charles, the late Prince Philip and Diana's brother, Charles, the Earl of Spencer, on the two-mile route from Kensington Palace and through central London to Westminster Abbey for her memorial service.
The brothers reunited once again last week to walk for Her Majesty, as they followed the queen's coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall.
Montagu shared that following Queen Elizabeth II’s death and her funeral, the general feeling for the people who support the monarchy is "bittersweet" seeing the two brothers back together.
Prince William was 15 and Prince Harry was 12 when Princess Diana died. (Photo by Anwar Hussein/WireImage)
"It's about seeing the two brothers, the sons of Princess Diana, back together and hopefully reconciling and patching up that relationship that we know that they had before," Montagu said.
She shared that "everyone hopes" that the unfortunate death of the sovereign will bring the family back together. "I think when you have this monumental moment in time where not only the whole entire country is grieving, mourning for,"
"I've always said this. You know, time heals. I think many people agree. Time heals."
There is hope that Prince William and Prince Harry will mend their relationship. (Getty Images)
Montagu continued: "We had that bombshell interview with Oprah over a year ago. We've had Harry on a podcast revealing more. We've had him on Apple TV revealing more. We've even had Meghan Markle recently on her own podcast, sort of insinuating that things were not difficult, that she wasn't allowed to be ambitious.
"I think what we've seen now with this possible olive branch, maybe a reconciliation, maybe through the statement saying, ‘I now honor my father, the new King Charles III,’ that perhaps Meghan and Harry might take a step back from, you know, in one sense, sort of bringing the royal family, the new King Charles III, and the new Prince of Wales and throwing them under a bus."
A lot of the spotlight over the past several days with royal events leading up to Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral has been on Harry and Meghan.
The "Fab Four" reunited after years apart but weren't without some criticism as Prince William went viral in a video where he was criticized for his lack of chivalry for his wife, while Harry rushed to be by Meghan's side and open a car door as the group left an event together on Saturday.
Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince William, Prince of Wales, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex on the long walk at Windsor Castle arrive to view flowers and tributes to Queen Elizabeth II. (Chris Jackson)
Montagu emphasized that putting "aside Catherine and Meghan," the country just wants to see the brothers back together.
"And definitely there is hope that the two brothers will come together," she said. "So I think there's this feeling over here in this country. ‘Let's just put the wives aside.’ We just want to see the brothers together."
The American-born viscountess shared that Meghan and Kate have always had "an okay relationship" and noted that in the Duchess of Sussex’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, she mentioned how she felt about the now-Princess of Wales.
The American Viscountess shared that Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle always had "an okay relationship." (Photo by Samir Hussein/WireImage)
"We also know from that Oprah Winfrey interview that Meghan said, you know, ‘Kate is a good person,’" Montagu recalled.
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Elizabeth II’s death has been a sorrowful time for the citizens in the United Kingdom and across the world. The viscountess shared the loss of the Queen from her perspective, as an American who married into a family of nobility.
"I can see it from both sides," she shared. "The American side, this fascination around the royal family and then in the family that I married into, which is part of the aristocracy. It's this extraordinary respect for this family that has overcome scandal, just like many families have done."
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II died at 96 at Balmoral Castle. Since her death, she has been mourned around the world. (Ben Stansall/Pool via AP, File)
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Montagu shared that the American "fascination" with the royal family stems from tracing their own ancestry back to the United Kingdom and wanting to know that "you belong somewhere."
"America is such a wonderful melting pot of all types of cultures from across the world, where you're always looking for, ‘Where did I come from?’ You know, it's a new country, relatively speaking. And so that's the fascination, I think," she shared.
Fox News' Tracy Wright contributed to this report.
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