William’s relationship with his younger brother used to charm the nation, as the two royals would light-heartedly mock each other in public. However, they hit a major obstacle when Harry introduced his then girlfriend, Meghan Markle, to her future brother and sister in-law — William and Kate. According to the sympathetic account of the Sussexes’ exit, ‘Finding Freedom’, William advised Harry to “get to know this girl” before rushing into a serious commitment with her.
The younger royal subsequently accused his brother of “snobbishness”.
After 16 months of dating, Harry and Meghan announced their engagement.
Then, in little more than two years, the couple decided to step back from the royal frontline.
Although the Cambridges and the Sussexes were briefly dubbed the “Fab Four”, a succession of disagreements pushed the couples further apart during this time.
The fallout reportedly catalysed Harry and Meghan’s decision to leave the Royal Family.
Furthermore, the Sussexes have been accused of taking digs at William and Kate, over the last year.
Harry and Meghan deliberately split from their shared charitable venture — the Royal Foundation — set up a rival Instagram account, and moved out of their neighbouring apartment in the Kensington Palace estate.
Harry seemed to confirm a rift with his brother in an interview with ITV last year when he said they had “good days” and “bad days”, and that they were “on different paths at the moment”.
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The publication of the book even prompted friends of William and Kate to claim the couple “rolled out the red carpet for Meghan”.
However, an unearthed comment from the Duke of Cambridge has suggested how he may retaliate.
When he was asked to be Harry’s best man in 2018, William jokingly said: “Revenge is sweet.”
Harry had been William’s best man during his 2011 wedding, and had promised at the time that his speech would “dig him in the ribs a few times and embarrass him”, as well as “make him lose some hair”.
While this exchange was said light-heartedly, the rivalry between the brothers is clearly not always humorous.
Finding Freedom claims that another factor which pushed Harry and Meghan to leave their royal roles was their frustration at being in the shadow of other members of the Firm.
Increasingly Harry had grown frustrated that he and Meghan often took a back seat to other family members.
Finding Freedom claims: “While they both respected the hierarchy of the institution, it was difficult when they wanted to focus on a project and were told that a more senior ranking family member, be it Prince William or Prince Charles, had an initiative or tour being announced at the same time — so they would just have to wait.”
By March this year — during the Sussexes’ final royal engagement — the couples did not even speak.
It’s not known if their relationship has improved since the Sussexes relocated to California, but royal fans are wondering if William will respond to Finding Freedom and address his rift with Harry in time.
‘Finding Freedom’ by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand was published by Harper Collins in 2020, and is available here.
