Prince William isn’t warming up to making amends with his brother, Prince Harry, with sources exclusively telling In Touch that the future king now wishes he had severed ties with his younger sibling and sister-in-law Meghan Markle much sooner.
“William has lost all his patience when it comes to Harry and Meghan. He refuses to get into a public back and forth with his brother about any of this,” the source says. “It’s getting old at this point. He feels that Harry made his decision to walk away, and he should abide by the consequences that come with that.”
William, 42, and Harry, 40, have been estranged for years, with their feud rumored to have begun in 2018 when Harry allegedly became irritated with William for not being welcoming enough to Meghan, 43.
Harry gave more insight into his strained relationship with William in the 2022 Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, telling viewers that it was “terrifying” to have his brother “scream and shout” at him after he and Meghan decided to step back from their senior royal duties in January 2020.
“They don’t talk right now. William has moved on and the matter of their royal titles should have been properly addressed when they initially left,” the insider explains. “William would have cut Harry and Meghan off from the royal institution back then and he regrets that it didn’t happen.”
Harry and William’s feud has only continued to escalate as William reportedly wants to strip Harry and Meghan of their “Royal Highness” titles when he becomes king, according to The Daily Beast.
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The issue was brought to light after the CEO of IT Cosmetics, Jamie Kern Lima, shared a gift Meghan had sent her during the April 28 episode of her podcast, that included a card where the former Suits actress signed, “With the Compliments of HRH The Duchess of Sussex.”
Harry and Meghan previously promised the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2020 that they would stop using their “Royal Highness” titles when they took a step back from their positions in the royal family and moved to America. However, their “HRH” titles were never formally stripped, per The Daily Beast.
While Megan’s usage of the “HRH” in her signature has drawn criticism from royal experts, insiders close to the actress argued that she wasn’t breaking any rules because she wasn’t using the title for commercial purposes.
“Harry and Meghan retain their HRH titles; however, by agreement, they do not use them for commercial purposes. While they do not publicly use ‘HRH,’ this was a personal gift, and their titles remain,” sources explained to The Daily Beast.
The outlet reported that while King Charles III has kept a “relaxed attitude” toward his estranged family members and the title’s usage, Harry and Meghan could be “more harshly dealt with” when William becomes king.
“William has been given a great deal of influence on all areas of royal policy, but that cuts both ways and he respects his father’s rank,” a friend of William told The Daily Beast. “Charles has a softly-softly attitude to Harry and Meghan, and so that’s the policy for now, but the gloves will be off when he inherits the throne. If they started using the HRH titles on a regular basis, he would take them away for good.”