Prince Harry‘s bitter estrangement with his older brother, Prince William, could prove a major problem for the future king.
A royal insider has said that if the rift continues it would be costly for the monarchy as William, 41, will be “deprived” of someone who would be his closest and most significant aid.
“They were really, really close and this is what makes it so sad that they’re now so far apart,” said Charles Rae. “When William becomes king, I always believed Harry would be one of his top advisers. I think that’s out of the window.”
The royal expert and author explained that the brothers’ late mother, Princess Diana, always wanted her boys to remain as close as possible. “They had each other,” he told Britain’s,The Sun. “And it was them against the rest of the world but of course now it’s not happening.”
Prince Harry and Prince William
The siblings have faced a series of ups and downs in their relationship over the years, especially after Harry, 39, decided to permanently step back as a working member of the family.
However, the former working royal reportedly reached out to his brother and his wife Princess Kate Middleton, shortly before they discovered she was diagnosed with cancer, ITV Royal Editor Chris Ship reported in March.
A separate report from royal author Tom Quinn has since claimed that William and Kate, 42, have expressed interest in trying to “make up” with Harry and and his wife, Meghan Markle. “But the suggestion is not leading anywhere so far,” he told The Mirror earlier this month.
Harry is now said to be in a “painful place” after hearing of his sister-in-law’s illness, royal expert Tessa Dunlop exclusively told Us Weekly in March.
“When you do discover that your sister-in-law has cancer and you’ve written stuff that can’t be retracted, that’s quite a painful place to be in,” she explained. “I’m not saying it isn’t.”
Harry has also had a strained relationship with other members of his family, including his father, King Charles III, since he and Meghan, 42, relocated from London to California with their two children. (The pair welcomed Archie and Lilibet in 2019 and 2021, respectively.)
“My family literally cut me off financially, and I [needed to be able to] afford security for us,” Harry alleged in his bombshell CBS interview in March 2021. “[I was cut off] in the first quarter of 2020. But I’ve got what my mom left me and without that, we would not have been able to do this.”
Despite the family rift, he made a solo trip across the pond to see the king after Buckingham Palace announced in February that the monarch had been diagnosed with cancer.
“I love my family. The fact that I was able to get on a plane and go and see him and spend any time with him, I’m grateful for that,” Harry said on Good Morning America later that month. “I jumped on a plane and went to go see him as soon as I could.”
While Harry remained tight-lipped about his father’s diagnosis, he noted that he’d be returning to London soon. “I’ve got other trip plans that will take me through the U.K., or back to the U.K.,” he said. “So, I’ll stop in and see my family as much as I can.”
