Grant Harrold, who worked closely with the royal family for seven years, has revealed his thoughts on a potential truce between Harry and William, after witnessing their “inseparable” relationship as youngsters
A former butler to King Charles has revealed his take on if a reconciliation between Prince Harry and the royal family at large is ever on the cards, while sharing the one thing he thinks will never happen – even if they reunite.
Grant Harrold worked as the King’s butler at Highgrove between 2004 and 2011, where he witnessed the relationship between Prince William and Prince Harry when they were in their late teens and early twenties.
Harrold, who has shared his experience working for the royal family in a new tell-all book, revealed exclusively to the Mirror just how “inseparable” the princes were before their years-long rift took hold. It comes as Meghan Markle takes swipe at ‘silly’ royal rule she had to follow ‘all the time’.
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He said: “William and Harry were so close, as brothers go. With many siblings, you can be close as children and then maybe drift a bit as you grow up in your late teens and early 20s, but William and Harry were the opposite.
“I don’t know if it’s because of their mother’s death, but they were inseparable. They were hanging out together, going to pubs together, just having fun together.”
Given his first-hand experience of the princes’ relationship, Harrold shared that there were “never signs of any rift”, as he said: “If I had been told all those years ago that they were going to fall out, I would’ve bet £100 that it would never happen.
“Even when the rumours first started, I was saying publicly to the press that they would never fall out, that’s how sure I was. And when all the conflict really started, I was asking myself, ‘Why has this all gone so badly wrong?’ I couldn‘t wrap my head around it because now they’re not even speaking to each other, and they used to speak all the time. It’s really sad.”
When asked on his thoughts if a potential royal reconciliation could ever be on the horizon, Harrold said if the Sussexes and the royal family ever reunited, it would be vastly different to their relationship before Harry and Meghan left the Firm.
“I think families fall out, and families can heal, but it’s never the same,” he said. “So yes I can see a reconciliation, I can see Harry coming back, but not in the Firm as it used to be. I don’t see Harry and Meghan ever on the Palace balcony for Trooping the Colour for example, but I can see the family patching things up behind closed doors and working towards the King seeing his grandchildren [Archie and Lilibet].
“I think that’s what they’re trying to work towards. I think they could be thinking ‘Let’s just be a family behind closed doors and move on from this rift from our point of view, not from the public’s point of view’.”
However, given Harry and Meghan’s track record of airing allegations against the royal family, Harrold warned the Sussexes about utilising their new Netflix deal for the wrong reasons.
“Are there more books coming? Are there more documentaries coming?” he questioned. “We don’t know, and I really hope not because that’s the sad bit. As long as they stick to things like Meghan’s lifestyle show and not the tell-all books and documentaries, then there is a possibility for a reunion.”
Despite many wishing for a royal reconciliation, Harrold admitted that there have been many public jabs over the years, and a reunion would not be an easy task, if it happens at all.
He said: “The way things are now is such a mess. And we don’t know if Kate will ever forgive Harry for example, and there are so many people involved, and I think we have to accept that there is a real possibility that we may ever see them as a united family in public, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t trying to heal the rift behind closed doors.”
Grant Harrold’s book The Royal Butler: My Remarkable Life of Royal Service is available from August 28.
