This does not detract from the importance of the two brothers being able to at least breathe the same air on the Long Walk in Windsor.
And it was clear how much the crowd appreciated William, Kate, Harry and Meghan’s gesture.
Cambridge and Sussex see flowers outside the gates of Windsor Castle Credit: PA
But that was a last-minute decision made by the new Prince of Wales on Saturday afternoon.
He did it for his grandmother and for his father.
In memory of the late queen, she had just been called “Grandma” and to ensure the smoothest possible transition to King Charles.
At a time of great uncertainty for the country, William knows that the strength of his father’s fledgling reign will be greatly helped by the images of the two couples – once called the Fab Four – meeting the crowds of mourners.
The Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex shook hands with hundreds of members of the public
But, and this is a big but, this is not the two brothers embarking on a sudden path to reconciliation.
It was, I hear, very difficult for both William and Harry to bury their differences and go out together in public like this.
After all, just two days ago, when the Queen fell seriously ill, Prince William flew to Balmoral with other members of his family, but Harry had to make his own way to and from Scotland.
So if I had a stab at Prince William’s thinking when he reached out to his brother and suggested something like this happen, it would be something like this: when we live in houses on the Windsor estate that are only a few hundred meters apart (like Harry and William does this week) it’s not right for Catherine and I to see the flowers and remember the Queen with the crowds and do it without Harry and Meghan.
Kate Middleton meets member of the public Credit: PA
And so contact was made, and the Sussexes had little time to prepare for the hike they hadn’t expected.
William and Harry share the grief of losing a grandmother and the nation has lost its monarch, so these pictures will certainly help.
The Prince of Wales, who will one day inherit the Crown, wrote in a statement that the Queen was “by my side in my happiest moments. And he was by my side during the saddest days of my life.”
And he said he would honor the memory of “Grandma” by “supporting my father, the King, in every way”.
Writing words to ‘honour’ his grandmother – maybe just the trigger for William to pick up the phone or send a text – whatever the olive branch had been extended.
There is a long way to go between now and Queen Elizabeth II’s State Funeral on September 19.
In a family where he is usually frowned upon to overshadow the efforts of senior members – as the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex have done – the King will not mind at all that his historic Accession Council is not the most stable image of the day.
But no one should expect the two brothers and their wives to be sharing dinner at Windsor tonight.
William and Harry put on a show of unity for 45 minutes in memory of their grandmother, far from being truly united.
But both sides clearly agreed that their family – and also the nation – needed to see this now.
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