Prince Harry in nod to Edward VIII as Duke prepares for Prince Philip's funeral
PRINCE HARRY's solo journey to the UK to mark Prince Philip's funeral mirrors his great great uncle, Prince Edward VIII's lonely voyage to Britain in 1952, also to attend a royal funeral after falling out with the family.
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Harry arrived in the UK on Sunday ahead of his grandfather, Prince Philip's funeral. The Duke of Edinburgh sadly passed away last Friday aged 99. His death has left the Royal Family devastated, as well as millions of its supporters in Great Britain and around the world.
Tensions will undoubtedly be high during Harry's brief stay in Nottingham Cottage, as it is the first time the Duke has visited his family since he and Meghan Markle spoke to Oprah Winfrey in their two-hour bombshell interview.
It was there that the pair disclosed intimate details of their struggles with the Firm, as well as allegations that Meghan's declining mental health went ignored, added to claims of racism.
Meghan was unable to make the trip with Harry on medical grounds.
She is heavily pregnant with the couple's second baby, this time a girl.
Harry's solo journey, then, mirrors the one taken by his great great uncle, the former King Edward VIII.
He found himself travelling alone on the ocean liner Queen Mary from New York to London in 1952 after the death of his brother, King George VI - Elizabeth II's father.
Edward had 15 years before abdicated to marry the American socialite Wallis Simpson, thrusting the throne on George and his family.
The reasons for Edward's lonely voyage were not because Wallis Simpson, his wife, was pregnant, however.
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Rather, the socialite was never forgiven by George's widow, Queen Elizabeth, later the Queen Mother, for her role in the abdication crisis.
The circumstances then were world's away from today's environment.
The coronavirus pandemic means Harry has spent much of his time at home in quarantine.
While he would not have completed his full period of isolation by Saturday required for overseas travellers returning to the UK, he is able to circumvent the strict restrictions via a rule in the law.
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This allows mourners to leave quarantine on "compassionate" grounds.
His journey is just one in a string of odd parallels between him and Edward.
The pair were both introduced to their future American divorcee wives through mutual friends.
Although, Edward and Wallis were friends for years before they began a relationship, Meghan and Harry's romance has been described as nothing short of a "whirlwind".
Edward lived out the rest of his days in exile in France.
He and Wallis were not invited to Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953.
They instead watched the event on TV in the Parisian home of American millionairess Margaret Biddle
Harry has not been exiled by the Royal Family.
Yet, he looks set to stay in the US for the indefinite future after being given two top jobs in the country's Silicon Valley.
This is added to the lucrative contracts he and Meghan have signed with Netflix and Spotify, with the former based in California.
He, along with 29 others, will attend Philip's funeral on Saturday at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle in a seriously scaled-down ceremony, that commences at 3pm.