Despite Their Rift, William and Harry Come Together To Honor a Late Friend

Though Prince William and Prince Harry have struggled to see eye-to-eye for a few years, they have been known to come together when honoring the memory of someone they love, like their 2021 joint statue dedication in memory of Princess Diana, or their Windsor walkabout with Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The upcoming release date of Meghan and Harry’s Netflix documentary is causing stress behind the scenes, but the brothers did come together this weekend to send a message in memory of a friend who died two decades ago.

According to Hello, Harry and William both signed a message that appeared in the program for a Saturday choral service in honor of Henry van Straubenzee, who died at age 18 in a 2002 car crash. “For those of us who knew Henners, we will always miss his mischievous charm and hilarious sense of humor,” the message read. “Henry’s legacy will live on through the incredible achievements of what his mum and dad have accomplished over the years.”

In 2009, Henry’s parents, Alex and Claire van Straubenzee, founded a memorial fund in his name to raise money for education projects in Uganda. Harry and William are patrons of the fund, and in their message, they detailed some of its achievements. “We believe everyone here tonight will agree that what Claire and Alex have achieved since 2009 is nothing short of extraordinary,” it read. “As you gather under this roof tonight, the charity is supporting 51 nursery, primary and secondary schools in rural Uganda, where 1,700 projects have been completed and over 35,000 children, each year, are benefitting by receiving education they wouldn’t have otherwise had.”

Henry died in 2002 when he was a passenger in a car that hit a tree, soon before he was due to travel to Uganda to teach English. He and Harry became friends when they were young students at Ludgrove prep school, and his older brother Thomas is close friends with William. When Princess Charlotte was born in 2015, Thomas became one of her godparents. At a memorial event in 2014, Alex van Straubenzee thanked William and Harry for their support. “The success of the charity and William and Harry’s support has helped all four of us come to terms with losing Henry,” he said.

Last week, William and Kate traveled to Boston for the Earthshot Prizes, where they met with John F. Kennedy’s daughter Caroline Kennedy and President Joe Biden, and visited with climate change activists. This week, Meghan and Harry will be traveling to New York City to receive the Ripple of Hope Award from the Robert F. Kennedy Foundation. According to the Daily Mail, the brothers had no plans to see each other despite their relative proximity.  

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