Kate Middleton Found Joint Walkabout With Harry, Meghan To Be The 'Hardest' Thing: Book

Kate Middleton and Prince William's tensions with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made their Windsor walkabout after Queen Elizabeth II's death last year an uncomfortable experience for the Princess of Wales, a new royal book has claimed.

On Sept. 10, 2022, two days after the late monarch passed away at age 96, Prince William and Middleton walked alongside the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as they greeted mourners outside of Windsor Castle in England.

It marked their first joint public appearance since Prince Harry and Markle stepped back from their roles as senior working royals and moved to California in 2020 and sparked hope among royal fans of a reconciliation between the Sussexes and the rest of the royal family.

But while the four royals seemed amicable that day, the "show of unity" was all an illusion, unnamed sources close to the royal family confirmed to British journalist and royal correspondent Robert Jobson. International Business Times could not independently verify this information.

"Catherine later admitted to a senior royal that, such was the ill feeling between the two couples, the joint walkabout was one of the hardest things she had ever had to do," Jobson claimed in his new book, "Our King: Charles III: The Man and the Monarch Revealed," an excerpt of which was published by the Daily Mail.

Jobson's book suggested that the joint outing was proposed by Prince William in an attempt to present a united front after the death of his and Prince Harry's grandmother.

However, the royal author suggested that any positive feelings the reunion may have generated were likely erased after the release of the Sussexes' Netflix documentary, Prince Harry's memoir "Spare" and TV interviews in which he criticized the royal family in the months following the Queen's death.

"If Catherine found it almost unbearable before all this to share a walkabout with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, then how — one has to wonder — do she and William feel about them now?" Jobson wrote in his book.

"In truth, by the time his grandmother died, Harry had precious few supporters left in the family. Even the Queen, who had always had great affection for him, eventually tired of his outbursts," the journalist claimed, according to the excerpt.

In September last year, Kensington Palace said Prince William invited Prince Harry and Markle to join him and Middleton in greeting well-wishers near Windsor Castle, nine days before Queen Elizabeth's funeral.

The Prince of Wales believed it "was an important show of unity at an incredibly difficult time for the family," an unnamed royal source told People.

An unnamed insider also told Us Weekly at the time that it "wasn't an easy decision" for Prince William to make, but the heir to the British throne ultimately decided to reach out to his estranged younger brother and sister-in-law "because it was agreed amongst all of them that this very much the appropriate thing to do."

The reunion was an "uncomfortable" experience for all of them, but "everybody is trying their best," an anonymous source told the Sunday Times at the time. The Waleses and the Sussexes put on a united front because they reportedly understood that it was necessary to show "solidarity" as the U.K. mourned the Queen.

"I don't think it goes much beyond that. There have been some awkward moments this week," the source added. "I definitely don't get the sense of any deeper meaningful rapprochement or a sense that this is it: things will be mended."

The two couples are expected to reunite at King Charles' coronation, which is set for May 6.

Earlier this week, Page Six reported that plans for Prince Harry and Markle to fly from California to London for the ceremony are "being finalized."

"Our King" will hit shelves Thursday.