NEED TO KNOW<\/p>\n
On July 16, as the 28th anniversary of his mother Princess Diana<\/a>\u2019s death loomed, Prince Harry<\/a> took a poignant walk through a minefield<\/a> in Angola, retracing the brave steps Diana took nearly three decades ago to shine a light on the hidden horrors of war. Just weeks earlier, on what would have been their mother\u2019s 64th birthday, July 1, Prince William<\/a> honored her legacy<\/a> in Sheffield, England, celebrating the second anniversary of\u00a0Homewards<\/a> \u2014 his mission to end homelessness, an issue Diana championed and introduced her sons to.<\/p>\n But what was once a shared mission to honor their mother now unfolds on separate paths, with no communication between them.\n<\/p>\n \u201cWe all remember the days when Harry and William were joshing with one another, and it all seemed set for their relationship and the future \u2014 that Harry, as Diana always used to say, would be William\u2019s wingman,\u201d Diana\u2019s biographer Andrew Morton tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story. \u201cIt\u2019s a great loss for the monarchy.\u201d\n<\/p>\n The brothers grew up sharing a royal life and experience only they can understand, weathering their parents\u2019 scandalous divorce and enduring the unbearable pain of losing Diana after a car crash in Paris on Aug. 31, 1997, when her sons were 15 and 12. But now they’re worlds apart.\n<\/p>\n That separation extends to the next generation. In Windsor, William, 43, and Kate Middleton<\/a>, 43, are raising Prince George<\/a>, 12, Princess Charlotte<\/a>, 10, and Prince Louis<\/a>, 7. Across the Atlantic in Montecito, Calif., Harry, 40, and Meghan Markle<\/a>, 44, are raising Prince Archie<\/a>, 6, and\u00a0Princess Lilibet<\/a>, 4. The cousins have not been seen in public together since 2019, before Lilibet was born.\n<\/p>\n Their feud exploded into public view in 2020, when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back from their royal duties.\n<\/p>\n “Things were said that sparked the initial rift, and it’s never healed,” Morton says.\n<\/p>\n Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, Prince William and Kate Middleton on July 10, 2018.<\/p>\n Getty Images<\/p>\n In his memoir Spare, Harry describes a tense 2019 confrontation where William criticized Meghan and, according to Harry, physically grabbed him by the collar, knocking him to the floor. The divide only deepened after the couple\u2019s explosive 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, followed by their Netflix docuseries and Harry\u2019s bestselling book \u2014 each delivering sharp criticism of William, King Charles, 76, Kate, 43, Queen Camilla, 78, and the institution they serve. \u201cSome members of my family will never forgive me,\u201d Harry admitted in May.\n<\/p>\n While Harry has spoken openly about his hope for reconciliation with his family, insiders say his calls and messages to William have gone unanswered.\n<\/p>\n Says Robert Lacey, author of Battle of Brothers: \u201cThe rift is very profound and very long-lasting. It will not be changed, in my opinion, until Harry makes a move and apologizes.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Adds historian Amanda Foreman: “Everyone wants it to happen on their terms, but that’s what makes it impossible.”\n<\/p>\n Despite the gulf between them, the royal brothers\u00a0remain united in one shared vow: to honor their\u00a0mother\u2019s memory.\u00a0\u00a0Their inspiration comes from Diana, who redefined royal life \u2014 not with pomp, but with genuine compassion. She didn\u2019t just infuse their lives with normalcy through visits to amusement parks and burger joints; she also took them to shelters for the unhoused. One was London\u2019s The Passage<\/a>, whose CEO Mick Clarke says William\u2019s \u201cvisits with his mom left a deep and lasting impression.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Princess Diana with Prince William and Prince Harry in August 1995.<\/p>\n Antony Jones\/Julian Parker\/UK Press via Getty Images<\/p>\n Can’t get enough of PEOPLE’s Royals coverage?\u00a0Sign up for our free Royals newsletter<\/a><\/strong> to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n The prince, he adds, has spoken about how Diana \u201cmade it very pointed that he was exposed to life beyond palace walls. That is something that he and the princess are doing with their own children.\u201d That grounding in service has shaped William\u2019s public life. During the COVID pandemic he made unannounced trips to shelters, helping prepare meals and even delivering food \u2014 always without cameras.\n<\/p>\n Harry, meanwhile, found his calling in supporting young people affected by the AIDS epidemic in Lesotho, Southern Africa, where he was deeply moved by the challenges facing vulnerable youth. In 2006 he cofounded Sentebale \u2014 meaning \u201cforget-me-not,\u201d Diana\u2019s favorite flower, in the local language \u2014with his friend Prince Seeiso as a tribute to their late mothers.\n<\/p>\n Over the next 19 years, the two poured \u201cblood, sweat and tears and their own money into building this charity up to what it was \u2014 a multimillion-pound charity that delivered nothing but good for the beneficiary\u00a0community,” a friend tells PEOPLE.\n<\/p>\n After a deep dispute over management at Sentebale, devastatingly for Harry, and Seeiso, they have parted ways from the charity<\/a>, and are seeking new ways to help the disadvantaged of Lesotho and Botswana.\n<\/p>\n Moreover, Tessy Ojo, CEO of the Diana Award<\/a> \u2014 the only\u00a0charity to bear their mother\u2019s name, and one they now support separately \u2014 has witnessed the princes\u2019 dedication firsthand.\n<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve seen how they watch young people who never met their mother\u00a0articulate the impact she\u2019s had on them,” she says. “There is\u00a0a sense of immense pride: \u2018Wow, my mother did that!\u2019”\n<\/p>\n Princess Diana with Prince William and Prince Harry in Oct. 1991.<\/p>\n Jayne Fincher\/Princess Diana Archive\/Getty\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite the emotional and physical distance between them, William and Harry have each created home lives grounded in a shared commitment to providing their children with a genuinely authentic upbringing \u2014 \u201cand that is pure Diana,\u201d says Foreman.\n<\/p>\n Both brothers have also honored their mother by giving their daughters her name as a middle name. They often speak of her to their children, and her photograph is displayed throughout their homes.\n<\/p>\n \u201cThe values they are instilling and discussing as families may be their best success,\u201d Foreman adds. \u201cThey are both very good role models as parents.\u201d\n<\/p>\n