Prince William's Public Reunion With Prince Harry, Meghan 'Wasn't An Easy Decision': Report

Prince William struggled with the decision to invite his estranged brother Prince Harry and sister-in-law Meghan Markle on a royal walkabout last week in the wake of Queen Elizabeth II's death, a report says.

Despite the rumored ongoing tension between the Sussexes and the royal family, Prince William invited Prince Harry and Markle to join him and Kate Middleton in greeting mourners paying their respects to the late monarch outside Windsor Castle Saturday.

The public reunion "wasn't an easy decision" for the new Prince of Wales to make, an unnamed insider told Us Weekly.

"In the end, [William] elected to [invite them] because it was agreed amongst all of them that this very much the appropriate thing to do," the source continued.

King Charles' eldest son didn't want any drama to overshadow his grandmother's legacy, according to the source. Prior to Queen Elizabeth's passing, Prince William and Prince Harry were reportedly not on speaking terms.

"For all of their differences in the past, many of which still linger, this was what The Queen would have wanted and William knew very well that it was no time to be holding onto grudges or distancing himself from his brother," the insider continued. "They needed to put on a united front and pay their respects for her sake as well as the monarchy as a whole and the people she served so tirelessly during her reign."

Prince William, Middleton, Prince Harry and Markle's outing Saturday marked their first joint public appearance since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back from their roles as senior working royals and moved to California in 2020.

Prince Harry and Markle have been in the U.K. since early September for a series of charitable events. However, prior to the Queen's passing, the couple reportedly had no plans to meet with any members of the royal family after the frosty reception they received during the Platinum Jubilee in June.

Royal correspondent and "Finding Freedom" co-author Omid Scobie cited an unnamed source as saying that the royal siblings' relationship was at a standstill.

"The true story is, [the Sussexes] never reached out to the Cambridges," an anonymous insider familiar with the current family dynamic told Scobie.

Kensington Palace confirmed that Prince William initiated his public reunion with Prince Harry and Markle Saturday. The Prince of Wales made the decision believing that it "was an important show of unity at an incredibly difficult time for the family," an unnamed royal source told People.

Journalist and commentator Camilla Tominey, the associate editor of the Daily Telegraph and a royal expert for NBC, praised Prince William's move and said that the Queen would have been "proud" of her grandson for "offering an olive branch" to Prince Harry.