Over the last few years Prince Harry and Prince William’s relationship has been strained to say the least, and with a potential reunion on the horizon the Mirror looks back at how the pair went from ‘beloved brothers’ to ‘arch-nemesis’
With Prince Harry set to return to the UK to celebrate 10 years of the Invictus Games, the question of whether or not he will reunite with his brother Prince William during the visit lingers in the air. When it was announced that King Charles had been diagnosed with cancer, Harry rushed back to the UK and made a whistlestop visit to see his father, who is currently undergoing regular treatment for the condition and pausing most “public-facing duties”.
Just weeks later, Kate announced in an emotional video message that she had also been diagnosed with cancer, and appealed for privacy as she undergoes a course of preventative chemotherapy – something that Harry and Meghan are reported to have found out at the same time as the public. Kate explained in her message to the nation that the family had needed “time to explain everything to George, Charlotte, and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be ok” before breaking the news publicly.
However, the Sussexes are said to have “reached out” to Kate and William privately after hearing the upsetting news, and also sent a public message of support: “We wish health and healing for Kate and the family, and hope they are able to do so privately and in peace.” Harry, in particular, for a long time enjoyed a close relationship with Kate and William, calling the Princess of Wales “more sister than in-law, the sister I’d never had and always wanted” in his memoir Spare.
Given the difficult time facing the Royal Family with Kate and Charles’ health challenges, some commentators have speculated that this may mean that William and Harry could be able to put aside the differences that have plagued their relationship over the last few years. Harry even wrote in Spare that one of his motivations for writing his memoir was to attempt to explain to his brother – and the rest of the world – exactly why he felt he had no choice but to leave life as a working royal behind, after William had insisted he had no idea why Harry had taken that step.
As Harry tells it in his memoir, the sibling relationship they had enjoyed had its ups and downs since their early childhood, with competitiveness existing at the core of their relationship. Harry revealed that he wasn’t really William’s best man at his 2011 wedding, but only played that role for the benefit of the public, and described many incidents when they were young that to him indicated the conflict in the relationship caused by the nature of their different roles and destinies as Heir and Spare.
“In some ways,” Harry wrote in the opening chapter of the memoir, “he was my mirror, in some ways he was my opposite. My beloved brother, my arch-nemesis, how had that happened?” Over the course of a few hundred pages, Harry attempted to unpick exactly that, revealing along the way many intimate moments in their brotherly dynamic. From claiming that William ignored him when they were schoolmates at Eton and didn’t like it when their late mother picked out matching outfits from them to alleging that William physically attacked him in 2019 – no stone was left unturned.
William, who alongside Kate is known to cultivate an extremely private life for their children’s sake, made no public comment in response to the allegations Harry made, but sources said to Harpers Bazaar at the time that the Prince of Wales was “devastated”. and another insider was quoted as saying by People Magazine that of all the royals “William is the one who is most upset and needs time to calm down”.
The brothers have repeatedly come together for important moments for the monarchy even since Harry’s move to California, but relations have remained cool. Only time will tell if the pair will be able to reconcile with the new perspective allowed by the challenges the Royal Family is currently facing.
Kensington Palace has been contacted for comment.
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