LONDON — Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, carried out their first joint public engagement since the summer break earlier this month, an appearance royal commentator Duncan Larcombe has characterized as a deliberate, strategic signal aimed at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle amid the ongoing tension between the two branches of the royal family.

The confirmed event itself was straightforward: William and Kate visited Everton Football Club's home in Liverpool to mark World Suicide Prevention Day, an engagement that had reportedly been expected to be a solo outing for William before Kate ultimately joined her husband at the event.

Writing in a feature that first appeared in Woman magazine, Larcombe argued that Kate's decision to accompany William, rather than allowing the visit to proceed as a solo appearance, carried significance well beyond the engagement's official purpose. "While to many casual onlookers this may have been interpreted as just another official engagement carried out by the two most popular members of the Royal Family, in reality this was the regal equivalent of flexing their combined muscles in a show of solidarity that sent a message to the Sussexes," Larcombe........

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