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“Apoplectic” is how one commentator suggested William might feel about Harry’s return. Another said he would be “slightly aghast.” And one anonymous charity worker told the BBC that it was “a hard situation for him full of emotion and anger.”
It has been abundantly clear for many years now that William has been in no mood to reconcile with Harry. The feud that began behind closed doors in 2018 was taken to new heights when Harry and Meghan aired their grievances publicly with Oprah in 2021 and in a 2022 Netflix documentary. But it was with the publication of Spare in 2023 that Harry really, as one interviewer put it to him, took a “flame-thrower” to his bridges.
The book shed more than just light on the recent royal feud. It went all the way back to Harry’s—and as such William’s—childhood and presented a revisionary look at the brothers’ relationship. Harry also wrote about Kate, not always in a flattering light. Harry described William in the book as his “beloved brother and arch nemesis,” a phrase that really gets to the heart of the complexities here. There has been so much hurt. But, at the end of the day, they are brothers and they have been through a lot together.
So where are we now as Harry prepares for an imminent UK return? In short, this undoubtedly puts more pressure on a reconciliation.
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The Waleses and the Sussexes in September 2022.
With the Sussexes in the UK, the questions that could be avoided when they were Stateside are now front and center. Will Harry and Megan attend family events and if not, why not? Will the brothers see each other? Will their children see each other?
It is increasingly apparent that it is from William’s side that the door remains closed. “I would love reconciliation with my family,” an emotional Harry told the BBC last year. Opinions are divided on whether William should reconcile. But with the narrative around the brothers’ relationship threatening to dominate the news agenda around the royal family, this is a question of both personal and professional relevance for the royals.
Harry and Meghan’s return exposes once again the complexities of their departure as working royals that had been somewhat out of sight and mind while they were in the U.S. It is a reminder of the challenges of having a system of hereditary privilege where a family is at the center of national life. The family dynamic is back in the spotlight along with questions about publicly-funded security and what it means for the monarchy if Harry and Meghan carry out public visits and take on commercial work.
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Charles and his sons in 2014.
As future King, William is acutely aware of the importance of all of these considerations and what public perception of them means for the monarchy. He is also a brother who it is no stretch to recognize as feeling hurt, betrayed and having had his trust broken.
“Please, boys…don’t make my final years a misery,” Harry wrote in Spare that Charles asked his sons at the time of Prince Philip’s 2021 funeral. It is a plea that remains even more relevant today.
Town & Country Contributing Editor Victoria Murphy has reported on the British Royal Family since 2010. She has interviewed Prince Harry and has travelled the world covering several royal tours. She is a frequent contributor to Good Morning America. Victoria authored Town & Country book The Queen: A Life in Pictures, released in 2021.