An emotional trip at an emotional time. As the royal family continues to make headlines, Prince William and Duchess Kate traveled to Scotland for a mini tour and multiple engagements.
William, 38, arrived for several solo outings on Friday, May 21, before Kate, 39, joined him on Monday, May 24. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were coordinated in blue during a social care charity Turning Point in North Lanarkshire on Monday.
During their stay, the couple, who are titled the Earl and Countess of Strathearn in Scotland, will visit their alma mater, St. Andrews University.
“It was here in Scotland – 20 years ago this year – that I first met Catherine,” William said during an appearance at The Church of Scotland on Saturday, May 22. “Needless to say, the town where you meet your future wife holds a very special place in your heart.”
While the duke acknowledged that some of his “happiest memories” happened in Scotland, he noted the country was the source of some of his “saddest” days too.
“I was in Balmoral when I was told that my mother had died,” he said of the late Princess Diana. “Still in shock, I found sanctuary in the service at Crathie Kirk that very morning and in the dark days of grief that followed I found comfort and solace in the Scottish outdoors.”
William’s candid words about his mother, who died in 1997 when he was 15 years old, come after his brother, Prince Harry, spoke about the late princess in his new AppleTV+ series, The Me You Can’t See.
“It was like I was outside of my body [at her funeral]. I’m just walking along and doing what was expected of me, showing the one-tenth of the emotion that everybody else was showing. This was my mum, you never even met her,” Harry, who was 12 when Diana died, explained. “Sharing the grief of my mother’s death with the world … I was so angry with what happened to her. And the fact that there was no justice at all.”
During the five-episode series, the Duke of Success cited fears that he would lose wife Meghan Markle the same way he lost his mother.
“It makes me angry and takes me back to what happened to my mom and what I experienced as a kid. My biggest regret is not making more of a stance earlier on in my relationship with my wife and calling out the racism when I did. History was repeating itself,” he said. “It’s incredibly triggering to potentially lose another woman in my life, but the list is growing. And it all comes back to the same people, the same business model, the same industry.”
While the palace has yet to publicly comment on Harry’s claims, a source told Us Weekly that William is struggling with his brother’s candidness.
“William feels that Harry should discuss his issues privately and can’t comprehend why he continues to shade his own flesh and blood on TV,” the source said after the show started streaming on Friday. “Of course, mental health is a serious issue, but William can’t get his head around why Harry keeps throwing his family under the bus.”
Scroll through to see the snaps of William and Kate’s tour of Scotland: