If there is a positive legacy from this saddest of weeks, it is the sight of the Queen’s feuding grandsons William and Harry united, at last, in grief, with their wives at their side.
The “Fab Four”, as they were once hailed, looked slightly nervous as they made their surprise appearance outside the grounds of Windsor Castle to view the floral tributes and greet the crowds yesterday afternoon.
They walked – together but in their separate couples – to share the moment of reading the many messages from the public to the grandmother who was so key to both of their lives.
And they spent 40 minutes working their way through the crowds, accepting their condolences, their hugs and handshakes.
It was the greatest gift the Queen could have hoped for.
After the bitterness of the past two years and the constant barrage of public complaints from Harry and Meghan about their lives as working royals, grief had finally brought them together.
Harry had been the last to arrive at Balmoral on Thursday night, too late to bid farewell to his grandmother, and the first to leave the morning after. It did not bode well for any reconciliation.
But surely, in that Scottish castle where almost exactly 25 years ago the brothers were woken in the early hours to be told that their mother had died in a car crash in Paris, the death of their beloved granny would make them see beyond the rift between them?
Surely it must have re-awoken the memories of those dark days when, as the new Prince of Wales said in his tribute yesterday, their grandmother had been there in the saddest of times as well as the happiest.
Last night it seemed that progress had been made. The four had not been seen together since the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey more than two years ago.
That appearance had heralded Harry and Meghan’s exit as working royals.
Now it is our new King Charles who has made the first move to reconcile the sons he loves so dearly.
In his televised broadcast as Monarch on Friday, he spoke affectionately of William and Catherine, but he then made a point of extending his love to both Harry and Meghan as they “build their new life overseas”.
It was an olive branch which, it would seem, both Harry and William recognised.
The path ahead is still strewn with obstacles. There is deep mistrust and suspicion about what Harry has written in his memoir, due out this autumn.
The concern that anything that is said confidentially may subsequently appear in a podcast or broadcast as a result of the Sussexes’ deals with Netflix and Spotify remains as pertinent as ever.
But last night marked a significant turning point.
The four of them can at least put on a show of unity when it is needed, they can act with decorum and dignity.
There is a long way to go. But their grandmother would surely be relieved and proud.
You can leave your tributes to Queen Elizabeth II here.
This weekend, the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror celebrate the life of Her Majesty the Queen with a commemorative special filled with all the key moments from Britain’s longest reigning monarch. Be sure to pick up your copy of the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror to get both pullouts.
