Prince William is now “indifferent” to his younger brother’s public hopes for a reconciliation says royal expert Duncan Larcombe
Prince William (back L), Prince of Wales, Britain’s Catherine (front L), Princess of Wales, Prince Harry (back R), Duke of Sussex, and Meghan (front R), Duchess of Sussex, stand after participating in the procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, to Westminster Hall on September 14, 2022,(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Since becoming Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Kate’s lives have changed in ways they couldn’t have imagined. In this feature from the special Royal edition of OK!, we take a closer look at how the couple have navigated the past few years, and how as king and queen in-waiting they are facing their destiny with a renewed sense of duty and purpose. Click here to purchase your copy for £9.99.
William and Kate are professionals who give little away in public, but behind the scenes there are fears their relationship with Harry and Meghan is drifting beyond repair.
“An end to this rift is just not something I see happening,” royal expert Duncan Larcombe tells us. “I don’t think anyone could find a way to solve it as things stand.” As the stalemate continues, William has been described as increasingly “indifferent”. “Fundamentally, I think there’s been a breakdown of trust,” says royal commentator Katie Nicholl. “William just doesn’t trust his brother. He feels betrayed and let down, at one of the toughest periods of his life. His priority is not Harry, but his wife and children.”
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Barely acknowledging each other. Prince Harry and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge in 2021 at the unveiling of a statue of their mother Princess Diana (Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Similarly, Katie believes the Princess’s health issues mean she is no longer preoccupied with trying to broker peace between the brothers. “Kate has literally had to fight for her life. So she’s most concerned about being there for her family, and has more important things to worry about than the rows, or the unsavoury comments Harry made about her in his book.”
In his 2023 memoir, Spare ,Harry claimed Kate made Meghan cry ahead of their 2018 wedding after demanding the dresses for the flower girls be remade. The book also included shock revelations about a fight between the brothers, with Harry claiming William swore at him and lunged for him.
Prince Harry and Prince William in 1986 (Image: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)
“He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor,” he wrote. “I landed on the dog’s bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me. I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out.”
Though William did not publicly respond to the allegations, he was said to be “devastated”, and the brothers are still not speaking more than two years later. “From what I understand, William can take Harry’s criticism of him, but it’s a real red line when it’s about Kate,” says Duncan.
One brighter bit of news came a few weeks ago when aides of both King Charles and Harry sat down in London to discuss the family saga. The meeting came ahead of Harry’s planned visit to the UK at the beginning of September for the annual WellChild event. At the time of going to press, Harry and his father were expected to meet in person, which would have been the first time in 18 months. However, William is said to have played no part in the negotiations.
“We have to hope that this could bring a wider reconciliation in future,” says Katie. “I believe the King wants a relationship with Harry, and with Lilibet and Archie, the grandchildren he has barely seen.
The Duchess of Sussex shared a video of atrip to Disneyland to celebrate daughter Lilibet’s fourth birthday. Pictured with Harry and eldest child Archie. Grandad Charles has barely seen the children since the rift (Image: Instagram @meghan )
Charles is aware that the royal family needs to be united, and he knows this fracture at the heart of the House of Windsor doesn’t look good for anyone.” After losing a legal fight over his UK security, Harry told the BBC in May he wanted to repair the damage. “There’s no point in continuing to fight any more,” he said. “Life is precious. Forgiveness is 100% a possibility because I would like to get my father and brother back.”
But he also said, “I don’t know how much longer my father has – he won’t speak to me because of this security stuff, but it would be nice to reconcile.” When Charles announced his cancer diagnosis in February 2024, Harry flew from California to see him, but their meeting lasted just 12 minutes, according to royal author Lady Colin Campbell.
HRH Prince Charles poses with his sons Prince William (R) and Prince Harry (L) during the Royal Family’s ski break at Klosters on March 31, 2005 in Switzerland.(Image: Getty Images)
With their relationship still in shreds, Harry told the BBC, “I can’t see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the UK at this point.” Adding, “I miss the UK.”
In an interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby in January 2023, Harry claimed “the ball is in their court”. But Duncan – author of 2017’s Prince Harry: The Inside Story – suggests the opposite is true. “I think the ball is very much in his court. He has to show that if he has a full and frank conversation with William or Charles he won’t go straight to the media.
“That’s a huge issue for the royals, and it’s the golden rule you never break. William can’t offer Harry an olive branch when it could end up as news Harry sells.” Duncan adds, “The brothers I used to cover were great mates, but unfortunately, at the moment, Harry seems to have no clue about the impact his actions have had.”
Unsurprisingly, the two now avoid each other at royal events. Last August, at a memorial service for their late uncle Robert Fellowes, they reportedly sat apart and did not talk. At their father’s coronation in May 2023 there was no visible interaction between them, and they also kept their distance at Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in September 2022, with neither making eye contact as they walked behind the coffin.
Duke and Duchess of Sussex during their interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021 (Image: CBS)
The feud began in 2018, when Harry accused William of being unsupportive of his romance with Meghan. After seemingly working through it, the princes and their partners were dubbed the ‘Fab Four’, heralding a golden new age for the monarchy.
But the unity was short-lived, and tensions escalated when Harry and Meghan stepped back from royal duties in 2020 and moved to the US.
The next year, their Oprah Winfrey TV interview revealed serious grievances, including claims of racism towards Meghan. The situation worsened with Spare , then the 2022 Netflix series Harry & Meghan .
These days, the pair enjoy a quiet life in Montecito, California with Archie, six, and Lilibet, four. “The Sussexes are like celebrities who hold the court of Montecito, while William and Kate hold the court of a future king and queen,” says Katie. “They could hardly be further apart, and it really is incredibly sad.”
William and Kate: A Bold New Path, OK! Special Collector’s Edition
In the three years since becoming Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Kate’s lives have changed in ways they couldn’t have imagined. The sadness of the late Queen’s death in September 2022 was followed by even darker days, as William’s bitter rift with Prince Harry deepened and a cruel cancer diagnosis ripped through the heart of the royal family twice in a matter of weeks. But despite such upheaval and trauma, the pair have shown unwavering resilience and doubled down on their family-first stance. In this special edition of OK!, we take a closer look at how the couple have navigated the past few years, and how as king and queen in-waiting they are facing their destiny with a renewed sense of duty and purpose.
Click here to purchase your copy for £9.99.