LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Princes William and Harry and their wives put on a rare united front Saturday to view tributes to Queen Elizabeth II, threatening to upstage their father Charles on the day he was officially proclaimed king.

The impromptu walkabout by William and Kate with Harry and Meghan, their first joint public appearance since March 2020, came as royal officials unveiled plans for the run-up to The Queen’s State funeral on September 19.

William, who has taken the title of Prince of Wales now that his father is King Charles III, earlier broke his silence with an emotional tribute to his grandmother.

“I knew this day would come, but it will be some time before the reality of life without grannie will truly feel real,” said the 40-year-old, the elder of Charles’ two sons with the late Princess Diana.

But it was his relationship with his brother Harry, who quit royal life in early 2020 and moved to the United States with his American wife, that looked set to dominate Sunday’s headlines.

The two couples, once dubbed “the fab four”, emerged from Windsor Castle together to inspect flowers and tributes left for The Queen, who died on Thursday aged 96 after a record-breaking 70-year reign.

They then went to talk to well-wishers on separate sides of the street.

In his first speech as king on Friday, Charles had spoken of his love for his son Harry and daughter-in-law, in what was widely seen as an olive branch.

After a lifetime’s apprenticeship, Charles was formally proclaimed king on Saturday in a ceremony filled with the kind of pomp the UK does so well.

A court official wearing a feathered bicorn hat declared the 73-year-old “our only lawful and rightful” monarch from the balcony of St James’s Palace in London.

It followed an Accession Council meeting of senior royals, clergy and Government, a centuries-old tradition seen live on television for the first time.

“I am deeply aware of this great inheritance and of the duties and heavy responsibilities of sovereignty, which have now passed to me,” Charles said in a speech before swearing an oath.

“In taking up these responsibilities, I shall strive to follow the inspiring example I have been set.”

Eight trumpeters accompanied the proclamation that was followed by a rousing three cheers for the new king by red-jacketed Coldstream Guards soldiers, doffing their distinctive bearskin hats.

Ceremonial gun salutes boomed simultaneously across the UK and the proclamation — a relic from the past where the new monarch needed to be announced to their subjects — was read publicly in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

William, the heir to the throne whose wife Kate takes Diana’s old title of Princess of Wales, said he would honour The Queen “by supporting my father, The King, in every way I can”.

Charles automatically became monarch when The Queen died, but the proclamation was the latest step in the set piece 10-day programme building up to her State funeral.

Since The Queen died, crowds have massed and left flowers, cards and candles outside the royal residences from Buckingham Palace to Windsor and Balmoral, the Scottish estate where The Queen died.

They have both mourned The Queen and wished Charles well, with thousands more expected to line the streets in Scotland when The Queen’s coffin begins its journey to London on Sunday.