The secret role Prince William played before extraordinary Pope funeral talks between Trump and Zelensky to end Ukraine war

Prince William’s diplomatic manouevring at the Pope’s funeral that helped Donald Trump, Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron hold a three-way discussion with Volodymyr Zelensky has been revealed.

The Prince of Wales attended Saturday’s ceremony at the Vatican, alongside world leaders including the US and Ukrainian presidents.

He is now being hailed for a subtle movement which helped pave the way for follow-up discussions between Mr Trump and Mr Zelensky.

It was the first head-to-head between the two presidents since their fractious clash, also involving US Vice-President JD Vance, at the White House in Washington DC earlier this year.

Mr Zelensky hailed Saturday’s summit on the sidelines of the Pope’s funeral as a ‘good meeting that has the potential to become historic’, while the White House said it was ‘very productive’.

The meeting between the two leaders was brokered as part of the gathering following the death of Pope Francis, aged 88, on Monday last week.

William’s involvement in Saturday’s occasion included walking alongside Sir Keir in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome for the service.

But he crucially chose to discreetly step aside from a huddle that formed between the political leaders including not only Sir Keir, Mr Trump and Mr Zelensky but also France’s president Mr Macron.