While rumours about tensions between Prince William and Prince Harry have swirled as far back as 2018, with reports claiming Harry was disappointed that William didn’t do more to welcome his wife, Meghan Markle, into the family, it wasn’t until 2019 that a rift was formally confirmed – when the Duke of Sussex infamously confessed that they are “on different paths”.
While speaking in an ITV documentary about his tour of Africa with the Duchess, Prince Harry remarked, “We’re certainly on different paths at the moment but I’ll always be there for him and as I know he’ll always be there for me.
“We don’t see each other as much as we used to because we’re so busy, but I love him dearly. The majority of this stuff is created out of nothing, but as brothers, you know, you have good days, you have bad days.”
Everyone’s clicking on…
However, mere months later, Harry and Meghan announced they’d be ‘stepping back’ from their senior working royal roles and shortly moved to California, to start afresh. What followed was a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey (in which the Royal Family were very much criticised for failing to prevent negative tabloid coverage of Meghan, amongst other things) and Harry’s memoir, Spare, in which he recounts a physical altercation with William.
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Now, it seems like the future King has extended an olive branch to his brother – which has somewhat gone under the radar.
When chatting to Eugene Levy in an episode of the actor’s travel series, The Reluctant Traveller, Prince William shared that change will absolutely be afoot when he becomes monarch.
“Change for good, and I embrace that and I enjoy that change. I don’t fear it, that’s the bit that excites me – the idea of being able to bring some change, he said. “I want to create a world in which my son is proud of what we do, in a world and a job that actually does impact people’s lives for the better.”
The royal then added, “That is caveated with, I hope we don’t go back to some of the practices in the past that Harry and I grew up in. And I’ll do everything I can to make sure we don’t regress in that situation.”
Given that this mention marks only the first time in four years that William has discussed his brother in public since their big falling out, it’s left royal fans hoping that this could be the beginning of a reconciliation between the pair.
The previous time that William mentioned Harry was back in 2021, after the Oprah interview fall out – when asked by a reporter if he’d spoken to his brother, William replied, “I haven’t spoken to him yet, but I will do.”
Is that the sound of some defrosting tensions, we hear?
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Jennifer Savin is Cosmopolitan UK’s multiple award-winning Features Editor, who was crowned Digital Journalist of the Year for her work tackling the issues most important to young women. She regularly covers breaking news, cultural trends, health, the royals and more, using her esteemed connections to access the best experts along the way. She’s grilled everyone from high-profile politicians to A-list celebrities, and has sensitively interviewed hundreds of people about their real life stories. In addition to this, Jennifer is widely known for her own undercover investigations and campaign work, which includes successfully petitioning the government for change around topics like abortion rights and image-based sexual abuse. Jennifer is also a published author, documentary consultant (helping to create BBC’s Deepfake Porn: Could You Be Next?) and a patron for Y.E.S. (a youth services charity). Alongside Cosmopolitan, Jennifer has written for The Times, Women’s Health, ELLE and numerous other publications, appeared on podcasts, and spoken on (and hosted) panels for the Women of the World Festival, the University of Manchester and more. In her spare time, Jennifer is a big fan of lipstick, leopard print and over-ordering at dinner. Follow Jennifer on Instagram, X or LinkedIn.