Prince William and Prince Harry might still be at odds, but one royal expert believes that the Duke of Sussex is trying to make steps towards reconciling with his brother
Prince Harry is looking to ease tensions with his brother Prince William, according to a royal expert
They once seemed inseparable, but now Prince William and Prince Harry are locked in a bitter silence. It’s said that the estranged brothers have not spoken since Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in 2022, with Harry revealing in his memoir Spare that relations between him and his elder brother and sister-in-law, Princess Kate, started first breaking down seriously around his wedding to Meghan in 2018.
The two couples tried to repair things before the Sussexes’ royal exodus, coming together for what Harry claimed was a pretty tense meeting – but with little success. When Harry and Meghan made the shock announcement six years ago that they would no longer be working royals, things seemed to go from bad to worse.
Bombshell after bombshell has been revealed by Harry in the years since, from the couple’s explosive sit-down with Oprah in 2021, to the publication of his tell-all memoir, which depicted his relationship with his brother as a competitive and fraught one. But now, despite all the grievances on both sides, tempers seem to have begun to cool, at least on Harry’s side.
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Royal expert Jennie Bond has claimed that all signs point to Harry looking to wave the “white flag” of peace with his brother and royal relatives, seemingly keen to finally mend fences with the rest of the Windsors. “Harry may be looking for an opportunity to establish a peace treaty, the expert wrote for the i newspaper.
“And that could be his Invictus Games, which will be held in Birmingham next year. Charles, Camilla and William were all on parade to support Harry at the inaugural games in 2014. Is it possible that they’ll be there again? It could present the perfect platform for a public reconciliation.”
However, Jennie points out that so far, the Prince of Wales does not seem keen to make up with his brother. “Prince William has, as yet, shown absolutely no interest in mending the rift with his brother,” the expert writes, claiming that William has been notoriously stubborn over the years, and has never responded well to people telling him what to do.
Prince William and Prince Harry(Image: Martin Meissner/AP/REX/Shutterstock)
Despite his reticence to welcome his brother back into the fold, the expert points out that the major challenges William has had to deal with in the last few years appear to have brought something of a change in perspective to both the future King and Queen.
“William has of late become less guarded about his emotions,” writes the expert. “Perhaps the time has come for a heart-to-heart with his brother. A lifetime of feuding is exhausting and damaging. William’s reign would be so much easier without the baggage of family estrangements.”
King Charles has taken the first steps towards building bridges with his younger son, from whom he was pretty much estranged for a time. Though Harry was invited to his father’s coronation back in 2023, he did not hold a high-profile position at the event, while William took centre stage when he swore to be his father’s “liege man of life and limb”. Prince George – the second in line to the throne – was a page of honour to his grandfather.
Harry claimed last year that his father was not speaking to him over the long-running legal battle the Duke had with the Home Office over the removal of his taypayer-funded police security. Harry eventually lost that challenge, but his security is currently undergoing an official risk assessment – with reports suggesting that the verdict likely to go in Harry’s favour. If it does, it could see Harry return to the UK more often – and he might bring Meghan and their children with him too.
As it stands, King Charles has not spent much time with his Sussex grandchildren. Harry has said repeatedly that he doesn’t feel safe bringing them without police security to the UK, and while he is willing to take his chances by himself with a private security team he employs in tow, the risk would be too great for the youngsters and his wife.
Last year, Harry and Charles had tea when the Duke was back in the UK, spending just under an hour together at Clarence House, marking the tentative beginnings of a new, peaceful chapter for the father and son. Royal expert Afua Acheampong-Hagan tells the Mirror that there is one key major difference between William’s attitude, compared to the monarch’s – and a particular reason why Charles might be happier to build bridges than his eldest son.
“Maybe Charles recognises his wrongs, and in the back of his mind he is probably like ‘well he’s got a point.’ Harry has said the quiet part out loud. Charles has made some mistakes over the years, and he has to have some sort of accountability and he probably thinks to himself, ‘I played a part in why my son now feels the way that he does’. That’s probably why he is more open to reconciliation than William is.”