Prince William Takes A Page From Prince Harry At Royal Wedding
William, Prince of Wales, took a page right out of his brother Harry, Duke of Sussex's, book when he attended Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster, and Olivia Henson's wedding day on June 7, 2024. Instead of making a grand entrance into the venue, Chester Cathedral, William kept a low profile by coming in through a side door instead, seemingly so he wouldn't steal focus from the bride and groom. In footage shared to X, formerly known as Twitter, by The Mail on Sunday's royal correspondent Natasha Livingstone, William (who was an usher for the big day) was seen quickly exiting a black vehicle and heading straight into the building without any fanfare. The move is one we've seen Prince Harry employ before in an attempt not to steal the spotlight.
You'll need to squint – but Prince William has just made his (VERY understated) arrival as an usher at the Duke of Westminster and Olivia Henson's wedding in Chester pic.twitter.com/sSUizZfAz5
— Natasha Livingstone (@NatashaLgstone) June 7, 2024
In 2023, he made a low-key appearance in London to attend a court hearing against Associated Newspapers Limited as part of Harry's lawsuit against the Daily Mail. Although the Duke of Sussex appeared to use the main entrance, his arrival wasn't announced ahead of time and he quickly headed inside without interacting with onlookers. As royal expert Christine Ross opined in an interview with Express at the time, "This is hopefully a sign of things to come. Harry's surprising presence at today's court hearing was as low-key as possible, probably to minimize the media circus." And it seems like he had the same aim as William, as the younger prince wasn't keen on having all eyes on him during their friend's big day either. Harry took a very different approach, though.
Prince Harry didn't attend Hugh Grosvenor's wedding
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex skipped out on their pal Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster's, big day despite Grosvenor being the godfather of their son Archie as well as the Prince and Princess of Wales' son, Prince George. While speaking to The Mirror, royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams suggested that the Sussexes likely didn't attend because Prince Harry didn't want the years-long drama with his family to overshadow the event. "Harry and Meghan were never going to accept an invitation to the wedding of Hugh Grosvenor, Duke of Westminster, godfather to Archie and a close friend of Harry," he stated. "They knew William would be there, reportedly as one of the ushers. They also knew that their presence would cause a media storm."
However, other outlets claimed Harry and Meghan weren't actually invited to the high society wedding because of William being an usher. A source divulged to The Times, in 2023, that Grosvenor supposedly made the decision to only invite William because of the ongoing tension between the royal siblings. "[Grosvenor] wanted to avoid anything overshadowing the day, especially for Olivia, and he doesn't want any awkwardness," the insider asserted. Either way, it seems like the happy couple got their wish, as William and Harry avoided any drama and neither overshadowed the bride and groom, with the older prince even appearing to stand back in photos.