Prince Harry: Expert on ‘pushback’ to a question from William
Talk of a royal fallout between Harry and William has been rife since the Duke of Sussex, and wife Meghan, quit senior royal duties earlier this year. Hoping to “lead a financially independent life”, the couple moved from their base in the UK to California, and have since secured a number of lucrative deals with Netflix and Spotify. In the build-up to their exit, Harry spoke passionately about his life while he toured South Africa with Meghan, and newborn son Archie.
He described his relationship with William as “going in different directions”, which again fuelled claims of a row between the two princes.
Talk of when a rift could have emerged was discussed by royal historian Robert Lacey, who said a confrontation between the siblings took place between the end of 2016 and start of 2017, in his book Battle of Brothers: The Inside Story of a Family in Tumult.
He claimed William raised doubts about Meghan after they began dating, and drew a comparison to his own relationship with wife Kate Middleton.
The historian wrote: “Waity William, of course, took so long to commit to Kate for the sake of the monarchy. He had been auditioning her for a job for all those years.
Prince Harry’s ‘brusque and offended pushback’ to question of William’s ‘concern for his happiness’ (Image: GETTY)
Prince Harry and Prince William reportedly fell out over Meghan (Image: GETTY)
“Harry could not help but wonder whether Wills was really concerned about his personal happiness — or whether he was, once again and as per usual, thinking about the makeup and fortunes of ‘The Firm’ whose boss he would become one day?
“The response from Harry was a brusque and offended pushback.”
Kate originally gained the nickname “Waity Katey” by the press as a result of her long relationship with William before she married him in 2011.
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Prince Harry and Prince William reportedly fell out in 2016 (Image: GETTY)
Kate’s mother Carole, royal expert Katie Nicholl said, was also concerned about how long they had been together because she was “nearing 30, and there was still no ring on her finger”.
But it soon emerged that a pact had been made between the future Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, something royal commentators hadn’t necessarily known.
Ms Nicholl told Vanity Fair last year: “I suppose what none of us knew was that [she] and William had actually made a secret pact to be married way back in 2007, after they got together after their second major breakup.
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Prince Harry and Prince William with mother Diana (Image: GETTY)
“This was a secret pact. And we know that this is a couple who are very good at keeping secrets.
“So really, Kate had the last laugh, because she’s got her prince.”
Following Harry and Meghan’s tour of Africa, a royal insider said the decision for the Duke of Sussex to speak out on his brother showed a “mentality of ‘us against the world’.
Royal Family tree (Image: EXPRESS)
This, they admitted, was a “real shame”, adding: “The Duke and Duchess have much to offer and could be a formidable asset for the Royal Family. But they need to work as a team with the rest of the royal household and, rightly or wrongly, there is a lot of distrust right now.
“There’s also a startling lack of self-awareness about some of the problems they have experienced that have been of their own making, such as the row over their use of private jets. None of this is healthy – for anyone.”
Penny Junor, a royal commentator, also waded into the debate by claiming the Windsors were a “strangle family and not one that has supported one another very well”.
Princess Diana’s sons on a log flume (Image: GETTY)
She added: “They don’t praise one another and never call each other up just to say, ‘That was a great speech’.”
The distance between the Sussexes and the Royal Family has only increased since their split, following the publication of the biography surrounding their lives Finding Freedom.
The alleged row between the once close brothers stems, the book’s authors Carolyn Durrand and Omid Scobie say, after William referred to Meghan as “this girl”, before Harry decided to marry the former US actress.
Harry was unhappy at the “tone of snobbishness” that was “anathema to his approach to the world”, and royal insiders say this sparked the downfall of the two brothers’ burgeoning connection.
Battle of Brothers: The Inside Story of a Family in Tumult was published by Harper in 2020 and can be purchased here.
