Prince Williams best friend and secret best man – with the hidden link that binds them

When most people think of Prince William’s famous wedding to Kate Middleton back in 2011, they will likely recall that William’s brother Prince Harry took on the role of best man.

However while many fans may have believed the duties to have exclusively fallen on Harry’s shoulders, it has seen been revealed that one of William’s closest friends Thomas Van Straubenzee, also secretly acted as his best man on the all important big day.

Thomas and William have known each other since they attended Ludgrove Prep School – over 30 years ago, with their enduring friendship having seen them both present in each other’s lives for every triumph, tragedy and milestone moment – including the birth of the royal children.

Thomas even boasts the title of godfather to Princess Charlotte, but the duo have a more recent connection that binds them that is lesser known.

As reported by MyLondon, the recent link that William shares with his old friend is through Thomas' wife, Lucy Lanigan-O’Keeffe, who worked as a teacher at Thomas' school in Battersea, which was previously attended by both Prince George and Princess Charlotte before the family relocated to Windsor earlier this year.

Thomas was one of two 'best men' who gave a speech at William's 2011 wedding reception, alongside James Meade, a close pal of William’s from his days at Eton College.

Interestingly, Harry revealed this detail in his bestselling memoir Spare which was released in January 2023, when he explained that although he was the one to stand up beside his brother for the pomp and pageantry of the wedding ceremony itself, he claims he was denied the opportunity to give a speech at the reception.

Recalling the occasion, Harry wrote: “The public had been told that I was to be best man, but that was a bare-faced lie. The public expected me to be best man, and thus the palace saw no choice but to say that I was. In, truth, Willy didn't want me giving a best-man speech.”

Harry also went on to explain how the decision to keep James and Thomas’ involvement a secret, had been largely to protect them from press scrutiny, as he added that the "lie gave cover to James and Thomas, two civilians, two innocents.”

“Had they been outed as Willy's best men, the rabid press would have chased them [….] both chaps were shy, quiet. They couldn't handle such an onslaught and shouldn't be expected to.”

When Harry went on to marry Meghan Markle in 2018, Charlie van Straubenzee, Thomas's younger brother, was asked by Harry to be his own best man, according to the memoir.

The close bond between both sets of brothers dates back several years, and saw them both united by tragedy when Thomas and Charlie's brother Henry was killed in a car accident in 2002, aged just 18.

Henry had been a dear friend of both William and Harry at the time, and both royals later became patrons of Henry's memorial fund in 2008.

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