Kate Middleton & Prince Harry’s Formerly Close Bond Revisited

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The royal feud has had a grip on the world for so long that people forgot about a sweet friendship that blossomed behind the scenes between Kate Middleton and Prince Harry. 

Now, King Charles III’s former butler, Grant Harrold, is looking back at his time at the palace and the forgotten friendship that lay in the wake of the family feud. His upcoming book, The Royal Butler: My Remarkable Life in Royal Service, out on Sept. 23, isn’t a salacious tell-all; it’s a positive account of his time working at the palace from 2004 to 2011. 

Still, Harrold is saddened by the division in the family, especially when it comes to Kate and Harry. He reminisced about the “little gang” formed by the trio because Kate and William always “involved” him. When the Prince of Wales was off working, it was his younger brother and his future wife hanging out together.

Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince William, Prince of Wales, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

“He used to go out with Kate. William would be away, and Kate and Harry would be off doing stuff together,” Harrold recalled to The Telegraph. “They’d go shopping together, they’d go to pubs together… I think when people say, ‘Oh, he was left out,’ he really wasn’t. ”

At the time, Harry was dating Chelsy Davy, and the former palace staffer noted that she was “always around” because “Chelsy and Kate got on really well.” Harrold acknowledged that he witnessed only public interactions between the royal family, and he didn’t know what went on behind closed doors. 

The Duke of Sussex painted a different picture of Kate and William in his 2023 memoir, Spare, which touched on their friendship that dissolved after his wife, Meghan Markle, came into the picture. He described Kate in the book as “carefree, sweet, kind” and “the sister he always wanted.” But it seems that their wedding day in 2011 marked a big shift in the friendly dynamic. 

“I loved my new sister-in-law, I felt she was more sister than in-law, the sister I’d never had and always wanted, and I was pleased that she’d forever be standing by Willy’s side. She was a good match for my older brother. They made each other visibly happy, and therefore I was happy too.” Harry wrote, “But in my gut, I couldn’t help feeling that this was yet another farewell under this horrid roof. Another sundering. The brother I’d escorted into Westminster Abbey that morning was gone – forever.”

Over the summer, there appears to be some movement in the family feud as the Sussexes’ communications team broke bread with King Charles’ office in mid-July. Royal expert Hugo Vickers shared his thoughts about the royal meetup for Page Six. “[The staff] may well have just been discussing routine things, which is more than likely, but at some point you have got to reconcile,” he said. “I don’t think we’ll see Harry returning to royal duties, but on a personal level, it will be good if he’s able to get on terms with his father.”

That meeting came on the heels of Prince Harry telling the BBC in May that he was ready to reconcile with his family because he did “not know how much longer [his] father has” in his cancer battle. Perhaps the royal family will find a way back together again, with the warmth that Harrold remembered during his palace tenure. 

Click here to see a complete timeline of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s feud with the royal family.