Paul Burrell, former butler to Princess Diana, has suggested that Prince Harry’s sense of being “the spare” and the resulting sibling rivalry with Prince William may have been sparked by something as mundane as mealtime during their youth.
Burrell claims that in their childhood, William was favored by their nanny, who showed preferential treatment towards the future King, who recently broke his silence on his brother and said he ‘doesn’t fear change.’
In Channel 5’s documentary The Palace: What the Royal Servants Saw, Burrell recounts a telling incident: “I heard one of the nannies say to William, ‘I’m going to give you three sausages, William. You need to grow big and strong, because you’re going to be king one day.” It comes as a Royal expert claimed that Prince Harry ‘won’t be welcomed back with open arms’ as he needs to ‘pass trust test.’
This remark didn’t go unnoticed by a young Harry, as Burrell recalls, “Poor Harry’s face across the table. I looked at him [and knew he was thinking] ‘Why did you get three sausages and I got two?”
Having begun his Royal service as a Buckingham Palace footman at just 18, before ultimately serving Princess Diana for ten years, Burrell had an insider’s view of the dynamics between the brothers, noting: “I met both William and Harry in their early 20s, at a polo match, and chatted to them, and you could see that Harry always felt he was in second place.”
Despite harboring profound resentment, Harry reportedly maintained a charming and easygoing demeanor, according to Ken Wharfe, the princes’ former Royal protection officer, who viewed him as the more approachable sibling. “Harry was the joker, people liked him,” he said.
Royal biographer Robert Jobson also examined Prince Harry’s mindset, indicating there are hidden depths beneath the surface: “Even though he had this persona of being this happy-go-lucky guy that was well respected, the reality, I think, is that he always had a complex character. He was always struggling with the idea of the service, of having a public role.”
Harry and Meghan Markle abandoned their Royal existence in Britain in 2020, stepping away from their obligations to the Firm and moving to California. Since that time, the divide between Harry and William has only deepened, fueled by the Sussexes’ apparently endless stream of accusations against the Royal family.
In 2021, Harry and Meghan participated in a bombshell tell-all conversation with Oprah Winfrey regarding their time within the Royal family, before also producing a documentary series with Netflix the following year. In 2023, Harry persisted in criticizing his family through his memoir Spare, in which he spoke about William, Kate, Charles and Camilla in less than favorable terms.
Despite Harry’s expressed wish to mend the rift with his father, King Charles, there seems to be no sign of reconciliation between him and his brother William. In a BBC interview in May, Harry admitted: “Some members of my family may never forgive me,” referring to his public criticisms of the Firm.
When Harry made a quick four-day trip to London in early September, it was reported by the Mirror that he would likely meet with his father, but there was no indication that William would meet with his brother.
A source based in the US stated: “It’s clear there is now a determination on both sides to make this happen. Nobody is pretending the wider family issues have been resolved, but this is about beginning with Charles and Harry. For the first time in a long time, there’s a genuine sense that reconciliation is within reach.”
They added: “After 20 months apart, and with the King continuing his treatment, the feeling is that the time is right to take that step. This is not about grand gestures or set-piece meetings – it’s about a simple face-to-face conversation between a father and his son.
“The priority is privacy and dignity, but also ensuring the door stays open for further dialogue. As for Harry and William, though, any chance of reconciliation between them has been rejected out of hand.”