Prince Charles to skip Diana statue unveiling ‘to avoid resurfacing old wounds’
Prince Charles will avoid the upcoming unveiling of Princess Diana’s statue because it ‘brings back memories for him’, a source has claimed.
Harry and William are expected to put aside their differences and come together on what would have been their late mum’s 60th birthday this Thursday.
The brothers will reveal their previously commissioned monument to Princess Diana at Kensington Palace’s Sunken Garden. But their dad will not be there in fear of ‘resurfacing old wounds’, a source quoted by The Times has said.
The Prince of Wales’s friend reportedly said: ‘He does find it terribly difficult. Moments have the potential to resurface old wounds, and it brings back memories for him; happy, sad, regretful.
‘Since Diana’s death, he has felt it’s best to keep those memories to himself and leave his sons to it.’
Charles was absent from the last official commemoration for Diana, on July 1 in 2017, as well.
On what would have been her 56th birthday, Harry and William went to a private service, led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, at Diana’s grave at Althorp House in Northamptonshire.
On that occasion Charles was on an official visit to Canada. Similarly, the Prince of Wales is expected to be in Scotland this time around.
He wants to ‘leave the boys to it’, a source quoted by The Sun said.
The guest list for the reveal has already been scaled back because of coronavirus restrictions, with Harry and William expected to be the only senior royals there.
Other invitees include Diana’s siblings, the statue’s sculptor Ian Rank-Broadley and garden designer Pip Morrison
More than 100 of the late Princess’s friends, family and staff were supposed to be at the event but Boris Johnson’s four-week delay to ‘Freedom Day’ thwarted these plans.
Meghan Markle did not join her husband because she is looking after the couple’s newly born second child, Lilibet Diana.
It is believed that Kate Middleton will not be at the event either, but William is expected to show the statue to his wife and their children in a private moment before the public ceremony.
Kate was thought to be a unifying force for William and Harry after she was seen to seemingly facilitate a chat between the brothers at Prince Philip’s funeral earlier this year.
The brothers, who have been at odds since Harry quit as a working royal last year, will likely not be able to see each other before the event.
Harry is currently in the middle of his five-day isolation period at Frogmore Cottage, after arriving from California on Friday.
William has been in Scotland today and is due to attend another event tomorrow.
Each of the princes will deliver separate speeches on Thursday.
Metro.co.uk has contacted Prince Charles’s representatives for comment.
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