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preview for New Book Details Prince William & Harry's Relationship Is Rooted In Pain & Trauma

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In case you hadn’t noticed, Prince William and Prince Harry are in a 🗣️ ROYAL FEUD. Or as some are calling it, a 🗣️ ROYAL RIFT. This drama has been going on forever, and chances are, you’re vaguely confused. We all are! Because truly, what are they even fighting about and why can’t everyone just get along? Things are still not the best because of Harry and Meghan Markle’s 2020 tell-all interview with Oprah…and Meghan’s bombshell 2022 interview with The Cut. On top of it all, the Sussexes’ Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan in December 2022 caused the royal family to spiral for literal weeks before the show was even available. But in the interest of living for trying to understand the drama, we’ve put together a timeline of this brotherly spat. So let’s go back, back to the beginning—aka winter 2018.

November 2018

At this point, likely fictitious rumors of drama between Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton had already been floating around the internet for a bit. But then veteran royal reporter Katie Nicholl dropped the bombshell that it was actually Harry and William who hadn’t been getting along. According to Katie’s sources, the brothers had a falling out around Christmas 2018, when Harry told Will he wasn’t doing enough to include Meghan in the royal family.

Per Nicholl’s source, “Harry felt William wasn’t rolling out the red carpet for Meghan and told him so. They had a bit of a fallout, which was only resolved when Charles stepped in and asked William to make an effort. That’s when the Cambridges invited the Sussexes to spend Christmas with them.”

You’d think that’d be the end of things, but HA HA HA, please. We’ve only just begun.

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December 2018

The Sussexes and Cambridges spent Christmas together in Sandringham with the Queen, but unfortunately, royal watchers discovered a video of William seemingly ignoring Meghan during the family’s walk. Basically, she tried to talk to him and he spent a ton of time adjusting his scarf instead of responding.

February 2019

Truly a woof month for the royal fam. Mostly because TLC started promoting its not-at-all-dramatic documentary, Kate v. Meghan: Princesses at War? I’ll give you a moment to side-eye the universe. During the doc, Katie Nicholl explained, “William was quite concerned that the relationship had moved so quickly. And being close to Harry, probably the only person close enough to say to Harry, This seems to be moving quickly, are you sure?’”

She continued, “I think what was meant as well-intended brotherly advice just riled Harry. Harry is hugely protective of Meghan. He saw that as criticism. He interpreted that as his brother not really being behind this marriage, this union, and I don’t think things have been quite right ever since.”

But wait, it gets more dramatic; The doc also featured a quote from the Sun’s royal correspondent Emily Andrews, who claimed that Harry “went ballistic and said, ‘You’re trying to wreck this relationship before it’s even started.’” This was probably the point at which the “royal feud” became the ROYAL FEUD.

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March 2019

In March, royal filmmaker Nick Bullen confirmed to Fox News that Meghan and Kate were never at odds….it was always Prince William and Prince Harry. “It’s actually that William and Harry have had a rift,” he said. “All brothers fall out. All families fall out. Their fallout at the moment is becoming public.”

April 2019

In an effort to find out what the literal hell was going on, Cosmopolitan spoke to Nicholl, who told us, “I don’t know that things will ever be the way they were between William and Harry.”

Womp. On top of that, the brothers attended an Easter service together and legit didn’t speak. As People noted, “Harry was seen talking to [his cousin] Zara and exchanging pleasantries with Kate but did not say anything to his elder brother.” Yup, there’s a video:

May 2019

Things kinda seemed to be improving in May. By which I mean the Mirror dropped news that Kate and William visited Meghan and Harry’s new house, Frogmore Cottage. Apparently, their hang sesh was an “olive branch” between the brothers, and Kate urged Harry to extend the invitation because she was “acutely aware of the importance of William and Harry getting along, not just because of perception but their collective responsibility to the monarchy as a whole.”

Plus, we got a video of Kate being super stoked about Meghan and Harry’s baby:

June 2019

So, this is when Meghan and Harry officially split from the joint charity they shared with Kate and William. It was honestly just a logistical decision and had nothing to do with drama, but that didn’t stop everyone from reading into it.

Awkwardly, June also happened to be the month we found out that William and Harry fully weren’t speaking before Archie’s birth thanks to Nicholl telling ET, “I was told by a very senior royal source that actually they weren’t talking to each other at one point. I certainly think now that Archie is here, it has probably really helped to improve the relationship. William is over the moon that his brother is a dad.”

July 2019

Positive update! William and Kate joined Meghan and Harry for Archie’s christening and they took a group photo. Negative update! William made a weird face and everyone thought he was unhappy to be there:

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Oh, and an Us Weekly source revealed that William and Kate “weren’t happy about” Meghan and Harry’s decision to keep the christening private and “William thinks his brother is going overboard keeping Archie out of the spotlight” and “blames Meghan.”

August 2019

Sources claimed that William and Harry planned to put their differences aside to remember their mother Princess Diana on August 31, the anniversary of her death. “They talk about the little things about Diana that made them laugh: the ski trips and outings to Thorpe Park [a British amusement park]; the effort she went to on their birthdays…all of it,” a source told Us Weekly, adding that Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle planned to “join them later.”

October 2019

Good ol’ October. Otherwise known as the month Prince Harry broke the internet and admitted there was, in fact, a royal rift. “Part of this role and part of this job, and this family, being under the pressure that it’s under, inevitably, you know, stuff happens,” he said when asked about the rumored feud during ITV’s documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey. “But look, we’re brothers, we’ll always be brothers. And we’re certainly on different paths at the moment, but I’ll always be there for him, as I know he’ll always be there for me.”

He continued, “We don’t see each other as much as we used to because we’re so busy, but you know, I love him dearly. The majority of this stuff [in the press] is created out of nothing, but you know, as brothers, you know, you have good days, you have bad days.”

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At this point, a source told Us Weekly that Kate hated seeing Meghan and Harry “so miserable” and hoped “William and Harry will eventually heal the rift and let bygones be bygones. The way she sees it, life’s too short to make enemies—especially with loved ones. She’s very levelheaded like that. Kate’s a family girl.”

November 2019

The month kicked off with a source telling Us Weekly that things are still “not great” for Harry and William and that “they both need to put in the effort to rebuild their relationship.”

Awkward, because the Palace revealed that Meghan and Harry would be spending Christmas with Meghan’s mom, Doria Ragland, instead of at Sandringham with the royal fam. They tried to downplay the drama, saying, “This decision is in line with precedent set previously by other members of the Royal Family and has the support of Her Majesty the Queen,” but sources said there’s more to the story.

“The rift between William and Harry is one of the main reasons behind their decision. As it’s Archie’s first Christmas, they want it to be super special. It’ll be just Doria and the three of them,” a source told Us Weekly following Buckingham Palace’s formal mid-month announcement“The drama surrounding the couple has caused a huge amount of stress. They’re making their family their number one priority right now.”

January 2020

Meghan and Harry announced they’d be stepping back from their senior royal duties, adding even more fuel to the feud fire. A source told Us Weekly that “William was blindsided by Harry and Meghan’s decision and statement” and “there’s still a rift between the two brothers. It’s sad because when they were younger, William would be the first person Harry would go to with big news like this.”

But the brothers tried to keep things calm, issuing this joint statement (which alluded to reports of William “bullying” Harry out of the fam):

“Despite clear denials, a false story ran in a UK newspaper today speculating about the relationship between The Duke of Sussex and The Duke of Cambridge. For brothers who care so deeply about the issues surrounding mental health, the use of inflammatory language in this way is offensive and potentially harmful.”

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March 2020

Tension was on full display during Meghan and Harry’s final appearance with William and Kate at the Commonwealth Day Service. Body-language expert Blanca Cobb analyzed their collective interactions and thought they were “lackluster among the four of them, particularly Kate’s lack of acknowledgment.”

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But toward the end of the month, Harry and William’s relationship seemingly began to improve as the Sussexes prepared to officially step back from the royal family. According to a report from the Daily Mail, the brothers were on speaking terms again and both agreed to do their part with helping out their homeland in the pandemic.

June 2020

Just when we thought things were starting to turn around, Us dropped another report—this time claiming that William was still annoyed with Harry’s decision to up and leave England (here we go again).

“William is so tired and done with the drama of it all,” the source said. “Seeing Harry cut ties with virtually every aspect of his English life and identity is so hard to fathom.”

July 2020

Finding Freedom—a biography about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex by royal reporters Omid Scobie and Carol Durand—drops and gives more insight into the royal feud. Apparently, William told Harry that he needed to “take as much time as you need to get to know this girl” when it came to Meghan, which Harry didn’t take very kindly to.

August 2020

William and Harry kicked off the month on speaking terms, but royal author Phil Dampier told New Idea (via the Daily Mail) that conversations were “stilted and difficult.”

September 2020

After a relatively quiet month of no big royal family events, huge news dropped: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle signed a multimillion-dollar deal with Netflix. The news probably wouldn’t ruffle feathers, except for the fact that Netflix is responsible for The Crown, which the royal fam has very…mixed feelings about.

According to the Sun, Prince William was especially unhappy with Harry over it. “William and other senior royals are incredibly uncomfortable about this drama and livid Harry is now in partnership with the company that’s airing it.”

On top of all this, Robert Lacey’s book Battle of Brothers comes out, and it gives more insight into William and Harry’s feud. Lacey claims William actually went ahead and got Princess Diana’s brother Charles Spencer involved in how fast Harry was moving with Meghan, and Harry was…not…thrilled.

“The result of the Spencer intervention was an even more bitter explosion,” an excerpt from the book published by the Daily Mail reads. “Once again, Harry refused to slow down. He didn’t blame his uncle. He understood why Diana’s brother should want to help. Yet he was furious with his elder brother for dragging other family members into the row. The fraternal fissure became established. There would be patch-ups and reconciliations, especially when a public show of unity was required. But that anger and mistrust—that distance—has lasted to the present day.”

The book also claimed Harry was “fighting back tears” during one particular “royal snub” by his brother during one of their final royal events together.

October 2020

Robert Lacey released another excerpt of his book Battle of Brothers publicly and this time alleged that William and Harry had a “showdown” over Meghan being involved in British Vogue’s Forces of Change issue because not all the content was impartial.

Per the Mirror, Lacey claimed it was “another classic Harry explosion, followed by a further, even deeper rift.”

Separately, Lacey claimed William took this picture to send a “message” to Harry:

November 2020

According to the Sunday Times (via People), Harry asked to have a wreath of poppies laid on his behalf on Remembrance Day, but the request was turned down by courtiers because he doesn’t represent the royals in an official capacity anymore. (FYI, the Queen was apparently not aware of Harry’s request.)

Either way, Harry was said to be “deeply saddened” by the decision, and he and Meghan Markle went ahead and visited the Los Angeles National Cemetery in order to lay flowers at the graves of two Commonwealth soldiers.

March 2021

Behold: the big tell-all interview between Meghan, Harry, and Oprah. In March 2021, the Sussexes sat down to talk candidly about what happened during their time as working royals, and it was illuminating.

While Harry didn’t go all in, he did talk about the tension between himself and his older brother, saying, “As I’ve said before, I love William to bits. He’s my brother. We’ve been to hell together. But we’re on different paths.”

“The relationship is ‘space’ at the moment,” he continued. “And time heals all things, hopefully.”

As for William’s response, in an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Katie Nicholl said “William is devastated by this interview,” adding, “Don’t forget that the Duchess of Cambridge is being dragged into this whole saga and William will hate that and…relationship between father and son is of course at an all-time low. I think that the idea that Kate’s being dragged into this will be upsetting for Kate, who behind the scenes has tried really hard to be a peacemaker between William and Harry. She has been deeply saddened by the brothers’ falling-out. Don’t forget she was incredibly close to Harry herself.”

A source also told Us Weekly that Will (as well as Kate) were “in total shock after hearing what Meghan and Harry said in the tell-all. After all this drama, a reporter asked William, “Have you spoken to your brother since the interview?” to which he responded, “No, I haven’t spoken to him yet, but I will.” A second reporter then asked William, “Can you just let me know, is the royal family a racist family, sir?” and he said “We’re very much not a racist family.”

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Gayle King also hopped on CBS This Morning to give an update on Harry and William’s relationship, saying they haven’t made much progress. “I did actually call them [Harry and Meghan] to see how they were feeling, and it’s true, Harry has talked to his brother and he has talked to his father too,” Gayle says. “The word I was given was that those conversations were not productive. But they are glad that they have at least started a conversation. And I think what is still upsetting to them is the Palace keeps saying they want to work it out privately, but yet they believe these false stories are coming out that are very disparaging against Meghan, still.”

April 2021

Amid Prince Philip’s funeral, things between Harry and William remained “extremely frosty.”

“Truth be told, Harry didn’t really know what to expect before he came home, which is why he reached out before seeing everyone,” a source told the Mirror. “He wrote a deeply personal note to his dad to try and set things straight but tensions are still running high and things haven’t exactly ironed out the way he had hoped.”

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“Harry didn’t expect everything to be completely back to normal but his feeling after seeing his family was there is a lot of ground to make up,” the source continued. “Whether that is harder or easier to do on the other side of the world remains to be seen. There is a lot of distrust in the camp and everything is still very, very raw.”

May 2021

With Princess Diana’s statue unveiling around the corner, the Palace is concerned about William and Harry’s body language. “The brothers will be physically together for the ceremony but want to make their own personal addresses,” a source told the Sun, via Page Six. “You might have thought they’d go for a joint statement and speech, but that’s not the case. Each has insisted on preparing their own. It is a big concern that their body language will suggest all is not well and they won’t present a united front.”

July 2021

Princess Diana’s statue unveiling was a reunion of sorts for the brothers, and the day went as planned.

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“William and Harry spent the morning before the statue unveiling looking through old keepsakes, notes from Diana and bonding,” an Us source said. “They have absolutely turned a new page in their relationship and have started the healing. Everyone around them was thrilled to see how close they were on the day of the statue unveiling.”

September 2021

In an interview with ET Online, royal author and expert Omid Scobie explained that there were “still feelings of anger” toward Harry and Meghan about the “way the couple carried out their departure from their royal lives” and that Will in particular “has not been able to come to terms” with the whole situation yet.

“The relationship between Harry and William is still very much one of distance,” Scobie said. “I don’t just mean physical [distance], across the Atlantic, but they are not talking that much, and that is exactly how sources close to William have put it.”

December 2021

A source told People that Kate has been “really, really upset” about the royal feud, while a friend added, “Everything with Harry and Meghan has been hugely stressful, but if anything, it’s pulled [her and William] closer together. She was upset about it because [William] was so upset. Seeing her husband so distraught was tough.”

January 2022

April 2022

Prince Harry reportedly suggested that a mediator be brought in to work with him and Prince William on their relationship. Katie Nicholl laid out the details to Entertainment Tonight, saying, “Harry, I’m told, suggested perhaps that they might get some sort of a mediator in on sort of these talks, to make some progress. It was something that he had suggested to his father. He’s made it very clear that he wants to sort things out. He wants things to be improved.”

Meanwhile, Harry was asked if he “missed” his brother and dad during a Today interview with Hoda Kotb, and he dodged the question, saying, “Look, I mean, for me at the moment, I’m here focused on these guys [athletes at the Invictus Games] and these families and giving everything that I can, 120 percent, to them to make sure they have the experience of a lifetime. That’s my focus here. And then I leave here, I get back and my focus is on my family, who I miss massively…[Archie and Lilibet] are two little people, you know?”

May 2022

Amid news that Harry and Meghan will be attending the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams tells Us Weekly that Harry and William’s “rift very definitely hasn’t been healed” and that Harry’s upcoming memoir continues to cause tension, saying, “It will again be a source of very, very substantial discord. Whatever he writes, if it’s published this year, it’s going to cause problems.”

That said, The Mirror reports that the brothers have been texting regularly and holding weekly FaceTimes with their kids, “which has allowed them to re-bond,” so it seems like things are maybe looking up?

June 2022

Scratch that! It looks like William and Harry didn’t get a chance to re-bond at the Jubilee after all, as a source told Page Six things were “frosty” between them. On top of that, the Cambridges missed Lilibet’s 1st birthday party at Frogmore Cottage because of a trip to Wales.

A source told the Daily Mail that Harry and William’s relationship following the Jubilee is still at “rock bottom” and William has a lot of angst about his brother.

“He alternates between grieving for what he has lost and feeling really, really angry about what his brother has done,” says a friend of William’s. “He truly loves Harry and feels he has lost the only person, aside from his wife, who understood this strange life of theirs. But he believes there are things you just don’t do. And Harry has 100 percent crossed that line.”

Meanwhile, an Us Weekly insider said William “doesn’t know who [Harry] is anymore and the trust between them is strained,” also noting that their bond is “doomed” and “irreparable.” Okay!

August 2022

Prince William doesn’t appear to be thrilled about Harry’s upcoming memoir, and a source told The Sun that he’s refusing to see his brother until the book comes out later this year. And it’s not just Wills. Apparently, senior royals are “keen to avoid” the Sussexes until the memoir, but William specifically “feels he cannot trust his younger brother not to repeat their conversations.”

September 2022

News of Meghan’s interview with The Cut all but broke the internet when it was published, and the royal family had ~opinions~ about it…well, ones that will probs never be admitted to the public, that is. TL;DR: Insiders said they were definitely not pleased. A source told Entertainment Tonight that the “royal family is disappointed by Meghan Markle’s latest comments in The Cut magazine and on her podcast. They are distressed that after stepping back from the royal family—claiming a need for privacy—she continues to publicize family matters in public.” The source also added there is a “loss of trust” with Meghan. Oof.

Despite all of the seemingly endless drama, we do think that maybe the families will end up setting their differences aside in the wake of Queen Elizabeth II’s saddening death—after all, they already reunited to view floral tributes after Prince William reached out to his brother:

the prince and princess of wales accompanied by the duke and duchess of sussex greet wellwishers outside windsor castle
Chris Jackson//Getty Images

December 2022

Truly a rough month for Harry and William’s relationship. On top of the brothers failing to connect during William and Kate’s official trip to Boston, Harry and Meghan went ahead and released the trailer for their Netflix docuseries. Actually, they released several trailers—the first of which dropped during the Cambridges’ trip to Boston.

When volume 1 of the series finally aired on December 8, Meghan and Harry mostly talked about the beginning of their ’ship and their adorable engagement, but Harry did seemingly make a comment about his brother…and his dad, for that matter. He said:

“For so many people in the family, especially obviously the men, there can be a temptation or an urge to marry someone who would fit the mold as opposed to somebody who you are perhaps destined to be with. The difference between making decisions with your head or your heart. My mom certainly made most of her decisions, if not all of them, from her heart, and I am my mother’s son.”

Meghan talked about the Cambridges directly, recalling the first time she met Kate at Prince Harry’s house: “Even when Will and Kate came over and I met her for the first time, they came over for dinner, I remember I was in ripped jeans and I was barefoot,” she said. “Like, I was a hugger; I’ve always been a hugger. I didn’t realize that that is really jarring for a lot of Brits. I guess I started to understand really quickly that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside.”

Meanwhile, the Cambridges didn’t release a statement about the show, but Prince William was said to be “very, very angry at his brother” over the series, so…¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

Finally, volume 2 of Harry & Meghan, which dropped on December 15, introduced quiiiiite a few more tidbits re: Will and Kate—namely that the Duke of Cambridge allegedly shouted at Harry, that the Palace issued a fake joint statement and was “happy to lie to protect [William], and that for three years, they were never willing to tell the truth to protect [Harry and Meghan].” Oh, and that there may have been some jealousy because of Meghan’s popularity. For a more in-depth look at *all* the bombshells from the final three episodes of the series, check out this story:

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January 2023

Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare, dropped—and in it, he accused William of physically attacking him during a fight about Meghan Markle.

“He set down the water, called me another name, then came at me. It all happened so fast. So very fast. He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. 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.”

Amid the book’s release, a source told Us Weekly, “At this point, [William’s] got no plans to speak to Harry. He’s come to terms with the fact [that] he’s lost his little brother and quite possibly for life.”

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The insider also said that Wills “doesn’t even recognize his own brother anymore” and wants to believe there’s “hope for peace down the line, but it’s hard.”

February 2023

A month after the release of Spare, William and Harry still aren’t speaking, with a source telling Us Weekly that William “has made no effort to speak to Harry” and “feels that Harry is all smoke and mirrors and is not to be trusted. He’s trying to move on with his life.”

Oh, AND a source tells the Daily Mail (sorry, sources were VERY chatty during this time) that the situation has become a “toxic stalemate” and that “William has no intention whatsoever of apologizing and remains incandescent, especially around the way his wife, the Princess of Wales, has been treated. The relationship isn’t even rock bottom now—it’s nonexistent. And I just don’t see if Harry were to come to the coronation how William could even bring himself to look his brother in the face.”

March 2023

News breaks that Meghan and Harry have been evicted from Frogmore Cottage, and according to the Sun, King Charles’ decision to oust them was “backed” by Queen Camilla as well as William and Kate. Yiiiiikes.

April 2023

Amid news that Prince Harry is attending the coronation, the Telegraph reported that he and Charles have been holding “peace talks,” which William wants literally nothing to do with. Meanwhile, sources tell the Daily Mail that other royal family members have “no interest” in speaking to Harry beyond “the most basic of greetings” and that William specifically has “no plans to speak to him.”

June 2023

A painting of Prince Harry and Prince William in the National Portrait Gallery was removed in a truly not-shocking-yet-totally-shocking move. According to the Times, the portrait, which was done by Nicky Philipps, was first unveiled in 2010 and garnered tons of praise at the time. However, now it is more so “regarded as a painful reminder of the rift at the heart of the royal family,” especially for Kate, who is a patron of the establishment.

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That said!!! It’s important to note that all of this is speculation and the National Portrait Gallery itself has yet to offer a specific reason as to why the painting is no longer there. Instead, all a gallery spokesperson mentioned was that “decisions relating to the portraits on display at the National Portrait Gallery are made by the gallery’s curatorial team. With over 250,000 portraits in our collection, we are only able to display a small percentage within our building; however, as one of the world’s largest and most important collections of portraits, we regularly lend and tour our works, both nationally and internationally. This portrait by Nicky Philipps was included in a touring exhibition—Tudors to Windsors—which traveled between 2018 and 2021. The portrait was last displayed at the gallery between March and August 2018.”

Oh, and Kensington Palace says the decision wasn’t at their request, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

August 2023

On top of the royals failing to wish Meghan happy birthday on social media (a definite departure from years prior), the Sun reported that the Sussexes haven’t been invited to a royal gathering in Balmoral marking the one-year anniversary of the Queen’s passing. As a source puts it, “the Sussexes have not been invited despite being in Europe for the Invictus Games a day after the anniversary.”

Meanwhile, royal author Robert Jobson told the Express that Kate is pretty much the only royal invested in getting Harry and William back on speaking terms, saying “I think the only person that is helping the situation is Catherine.”

November 2023

Royal reporter Omid Scobie revealed that things between Harry and William are still not great, telling People that “absolutely nothing has changed.”

“I saw Harry’s release of Spare as his last attempt at telling his family how he’s felt for years,” Scobie mused. “Because clearly there’s never been an open enough forum to have these conversations or share these feelings.”

He added, “I was talking to a source quite early on in the process, and they called Harry a ‘defector’ and said that was William’s view. These were two men who once upon a time were firmly aligned in their outlook. One of them had to move on to also protect the crown.”

Meanwhile, Scobie said “there’s no going back” for the brothers, and noted that “In the eyes of some within the institution, Harry is a threat to the crown. His freedom to exert his own thinking outside of the confines of the institution has made him the enemy.”

February 6, 2024

Just one day after His Majesty’s cancer diagnosis was made public, Harry went ahead and visited him in the United Kingdom. However…there were “no plans” for him to see his estranged brother Prince William. Yikes.

February 7, 2024

An insider chatted with the Mirror, and dished that though there were “no plans” to see Prince William on his trip to the U.K., Harry would be open to it: “The Duke’s primary reason to travel to the UK is to visit his father. If the opportunity were to arise to see the Prince of Wales then the Duke would have gladly accepted it.”

How-ev-er!!! Apparently, Prince William wouldn’t be here for it anyway. 👀

According to an “old school friend” of the brothers (who has “remained loyal to William”), “The news about their father is absolutely shocking, but I don’t think it means William wants to meet up with Harry and shake hands for the cameras. If the papers want to write that they are going to be having pints together and a heart to heart, they will, but in reality, the idea that William and Kate are ever, ever going to let Harry back into their lives, or trust him with any personal information ever again is a total fantasy. It’s simply not possible to exaggerate how bad and how damaged the relationship is, and how angry William is at Harry for betraying him for money.”

The insider then added, “This isn’t just two guys falling out. The point is, Harry betrayed the monarchy. He can’t be trusted, he is out.”

Well! Then!!!

February 21, 2024

Harry has reportedly been telling friends he’s willing to take on some official duties to help his dad out amid his cancer diagnosis, but a source tells the Mirror that there’s “no chance” William would let Harry back in.

“Whatever has been discussed between William and the King is private, but it is absolutely and categorically clear that [William] would not allow Harry to return,” the insider began before adding, “He thought it was a bad idea at the time and he’s even more clear now.”

February 26, 2024

In the ABC News special “Prince Harry’s Mission: Life, Family and Invictus Games,” British journalist Robert Jobson says the following after Harry’s recent trip to Canada for the Invictus Games Winter Training Camp: “[Invictus Games has] been very successful since its outset. It doesn’t come cheap, it costs a lot of money, and he’s been able to continue to raise that money throughout this period, which is impressive. But I think there was a degree of jealousy about how well it had gone. I do think that William was surprised how much this had been such a success and how much money was being thrown into it and how many governments were getting involved.”

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March 7, 2024

A former courtier suggests that the fact that there were “no plans” for Prince William and Prince Harry to meet when the Duke of Sussex visited his father in the UK might have had to do with the Prince of Wales’ “principal concern [being] his wife” Kate Middleton amid her recovery from abdominal surgery.

That said, according to royal author Robert Lacey (via People), the Prince of Wales’ failure to see his brother, “is all to do with William’s wish to protect the institution of the monarchy, which he feels Harry can’t be trusted with. I don’t think William will ever agree to readmission of Harry into the family unless he clearly apologizes and moves forward.”

Interestingly enough, the Duke of Sussex *will* ultimately have another opportunity to see his family in May when he’s expected to visit the UK for the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games. However, sources say any chance of the brothers seeing each other—and of King Charles mediating a truce, for that matter—is slim.

“Of course [Charles] would like Harry to be the prodigal son and come back and would be much happier if William and Harry were friends again. But he realizes that is just not about to happen,” muses royal biographer Ingrid Seward (via People).

June 7, 2024

Prince Harry’s close friend Hugh Grosvenor, aka the Duke of Westminster, gets married to Olivia Henson in what People describes as “Britain’s wedding of the year.” TL;DR: Harry and William were both invited…yet only one of them attended. 👀

According to The Times, “a civilised understanding was reached between the duke and Harry over the phone,” which ultimately led to the royal not attending the nuptials. After all, William was called to be an usher at the wedding, which “would have been beyond awkward if he was obliged to show Harry to his pew.”

Yiiiiiikes.

diana, princess of wales statue unveiling at kensington palace

TL;DR: Unclear whether these two will be working out their drama anytime soon, but we’ll keep you updated anyway!

the duke and duchess of sussex attend the endeavour fund awards