Queen Elizabeth Would Be 'Proud' Of Prince William's Gesture To Prince Harry: Royal Expert

Queen Elizabeth II would have been "proud" of Prince William for "offering an olive branch" to Prince Harry amid their rumored feud, according to a royal expert.

Over the weekend, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle joined Prince William and Kate Middleton in greeting the mourners gathered outside Windsor Castle during a walkabout following the death of Queen Elizabeth II Thursday at the age of 96.

Journalist and commentator Camilla Tominey, the associate editor of the Daily Telegraph and a royal expert for NBC, praised the new Prince of Wales for initiating the surprise reunion with Prince Harry and Markle Saturday.

"Clearly sensing that this was not a time for recrimination but reconciliation, it was as if [Prince William] was trying to reflect his elevated status as the King's new 'liege man of life and limb,'" Tominey wrote in a piece for The Telegraph of Prince William, who is now heir to the British throne after his father, King Charles III, became the new monarch. "This was not just a display of older brotherly love - but a statement of his elevation to the House of Windsor's second-most-senior statesman."

"In offering an olive branch to Harry - despite all that was said and done on Oprah Winfrey - William created his very own 'cometh the hour, cometh the man' moment," she continued. "Anyone worried that Queen Elizabeth's successors might not be able to equal her duty-first approach could breathe a sigh of relief."

Prince William, Middleton, Prince Harry and Markle arrived together in one car outside the royal residence Saturday. They spent 40 minutes viewing the sea of floral tributes laid outside the castle in honor of Queen Elizabeth, Page Six reported.

The one-time "Fab Four" also took some time to read notes of sympathy and shake hands with well-wishers, who were happy to see the foursome together again.

"We are all very grateful – both sides putting all things aside for the Queen," an unnamed royal source told Page Six.

The Prince of Wales invited his younger brother and sister-in-law to join him and his wife because he believed that it "was an important show of unity at an incredibly difficult time for the family," an unnamed royal source told People.

"It's such an extraordinary historical moment and also a deeply personal one for the family that you'd hope and think that all members of the family would unite and support [the King] especially. And perhaps some of those wounds can be healed in the process," an unnamed palace insider told the outlet.

Saturday's outing marked the first time in more than two years that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made a public appearance with Prince William and Middleton.

They were last seen together at the Commonwealth Day service in March 2020, Prince Harry and Markle's final engagement as working royals before moving to California. At the time, they made headlines because the two couples barely spoke to each other.

Prior to the Queen's death, it was reported that Prince Harry and Markle had no plans to meet with any member of the royal family despite being in the U.K. for a series of charitable events.

According to royal correspondent and "Finding Freedom" co-author Omid Scobie, the royal siblings' relationship was at a standstill. An unnamed source also told Scobie that the Sussexes never reached out to Prince William and Middleton.