Prince Philip's death: The challenges Harry faces as he prepares to return for funeral

  • ITV News US Correspondent Emma Murphy speaks about the situation Prince Harry is in

There can’t be many people who have moved far from home without contemplating the awfulness of the journey Prince Harry now faces.

A return, in grief, too late for a goodbye.

Neither title nor fortune can shield from the agony of such a journey. He will return to a country where everything looks the same but for him is so very different.

We cannot know the realities of another’s grief but there is probably foundation in the belief Harry’s return comes with additional complexities not least as a result of the turbulence of the past months.

He will return to a family raw with grief and no doubt still struggling with the fallout from the Oprah interview.

What a challenge for them all, at a point when resilience is needed to simply cope with loss.

His journey has no doubt been made by many, to families with less privilege but similar problems. Perhaps the coming together in grief will bring some solace and understanding, perhaps that’s just in the movies.

Either way, Harry’s journey lays bare that for all it stands for, the royal family is at heart simply a family with the internal challenges every family faces.

As his late grandfather said during the last period of royal turbulence with broken relationships played out in public: “We’re a family, this is what happens in families.”

Sadly, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, won’t be there to offer words of worldly wisdom or warning when his grandson returns. What a long journey Harry faces, he will feel every minute of the 11 hours between his new world and his old one.

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