Prince Harry and William ignore each other on first anniversary of Queen’s death

Princes William and Harry are spending the first anniversary of their grandmother’s death in the same country — but still couldn’t be farther apart.

On Thursday, the brothers were less than 160kms from each other, undertaking public engagements, but have no plans to meet before Harry heads to Germany on Friday.

Amid the poignancy of the occasion, their continuing rift is a sad reminder of the pain Harry’s actions caused Queen Elizabeth in the latter years of her life.

Her death is marked with an unprecedented tribute from King Charles to the family’s much-loved matriarch, who passed away at Balmoral precisely a year ago at 96 after 70 impeccable years of public service.

Harry, 38, made the whirlwind trip to the UK minus his wife and children and without seeing any of his immediate family, including his father, who is in Scotland.

He attended an awards ceremony for WellChild, a charity supporting terminally ill youngsters and their families.

It is one of the few organisations in the UK he retained links with after acrimoniously quitting as a working royal in 2020.

In a speech at the ceremony, the duke reflected on the events of 12 months ago when he was forced to miss the awards as he rushed to Balmoral but arrived too late to say his goodbyes.

Harry said: “I know, exactly one year on, she is looking down on all of us tonight, happy we’re together continuing to spotlight such an incredible community”.

He will fly to Dusseldorf to attend the Invictus Games for injured service personnel, which he helped to found, and will be joined by Meghan next week.

Although, following a visit to Bournemouth, William was back at Windsor by the evening, it is understood he has no plans to see his estranged brother on his whistlestop visit to the UK.

The prince has other plans in the diary for today — he and his wife Kate will be in Wales to mark the passing of the Queen — and relations are as strained as ever, with the two men not having spoken for many months.

It is not clear where in the UK Harry was staying.

William is known to feel deeply betrayed by Harry’s repeated attacks on the family, his tell-all memoir and his Netflix series and angry at the strain it caused their grandmother.

But if he felt unsettled by his estranged brother being in the same country again, William wasn’t showing it on Thursday.

He was out and about highlighting his new campaign to end the scourge of homelessness — with an unexpectedly hilarious cameo from another familiar headline-grabber thrown in for good measure.

Visiting a Pret A Manger branch in Bournemouth, the prince encountered former England football star Paul Gascoigne, who couldn’t resist planting a cheeky kiss on his cheek.

The meeting was completely unplanned — and not a little bizarre.

Gateshead-born Gazza, 56, now lives on the Dorset coast and spotted a massive crowd outside the sandwich shop waiting to glimpse the royal.

So, the former international decided to wander in and see what the fuss was about.

William, 41, looked surprised as he walked out of the shop’s kitchen — where he had been helping to prepare a batch of snacks — but warmly greeted “Gazza”, whom he had met several times before.

And he asked how he was after his well-documented battles with alcohol and mental health issues, which have featured heavily in the royal’s work.

“Yeah, a lot better. I’m getting there,” Gascoigne replied, looking touched and in better health than he has done in many years.

“You all right?” he added, shaking the prince’s hand.

As William put his arm on the football legend’s shoulder encouragingly, Gascoigne bent forward and kissed the royal’s cheek.

The 56-year-old former Spurs and Rangers star explained afterwards: “I’ve met him a couple of times and met him at Wembley (Euro 2020 semi-finals). He loves his football; I climbed over a few chairs to talk to him and gave him a peck on the cheek.

“I came past Pret, and someone said William was there, so I saw him and gave another peck on the cheek. ‘He said he has been watching us from afar. I help the homeless here in Bournemouth.’

William was visiting the sandwich shop as part of Homewards, his five-year project to end homelessness in six key locations around the UK, including Bournemouth.

It was a low-key arrival — jumping on a South Western Railway train to the seaside town at a nondescript Woking station in Surrey with a tiny entourage.

Pret is one of several companies committed to supporting William’s initiative, announcing it will find work for 750 people living rough or under threat of homelessness over the same five-year period.

Accompanied by Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett, a Homewards ambassador, William helped in the kitchen by placing stickers on freshly made sandwiches and baguettes.

Word got around that the royal was in town, however, and when he emerged from the preparation area, he was mobbed by hundreds of people who had packed into the shop.

The prince also tried to be a barista at the shop’s coffee machine — amusingly wearing a personalised badge with his name.

But by now, the store had become so swamped with well-wishers trying to get selfies or shake his hand that William was eventually ushered out of the door and through another large crowd jostling to grab a picture of him.