It’s safe to say Prince William won’t be traveling to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s new Montecito mansion anytime soon. According to Finding Freedom author Omid Scobie, the two brothers still barely speak.
“I think the distance between the brothers grew wider and wider,” Scobie said on True Royalty TV on Sunday, August 16. “That’s really going to take some time to heal.”
As revealed in Finding Freedom, which Harry, 35, and Meghan, 39, have denied having any involvement in, William, 38, has been upset with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex since they went public with their plans to step back from their royals duties in January.
“The statements weren’t discussed internally. That’s really what caused the most amount of hurt to William because he wears two hats,” Scobie explained on Sunday. “He’s not just the brother, he’s also the future king, and he felt that damaged the reputation of the family, that it put family business out into the public domain when it should’ve been discussed privately, and there was a lot of hurt there that continues to this day.”
In the book, which Scobie penned with fellow royal reporter Carolyn Durand, the authors claim that the brothers’ relationship was first strained when William questioned how quickly Harry was moving with Meghan. As a result, Harry started spending less time with his brother, sister-in-law Duchess Kate and their three kids: Prince George, 7, Princess Charlotte, 5 and Prince Louis, 2. Harry publicly confirmed the rift in October 2019, five months after Meghan gave birth to their son, Archie.
“We’re brothers, we’ll always be brothers. We’re certainly on different paths at the moment but I’ll always be there for him and as I know he’ll always be there for me,” he explained in his ITV documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey. “We don’t see each other as much as we used to because we’re so busy, but I love him dearly. … You have good days, you have bad days.”
After wrapping up their final royal duties in March, Harry and Meghan moved to Los Angeles. Earlier this month, Us Weekly confirmed that the couple purchased a $14.65 million new home in Santa Barbara, California.
“Moving there was always an option, but to begin with, she and Harry wanted to give Los Angeles a shot. Unfortunately, Harry absolutely hated it — the timing was so wrong amid the [coronavirus] pandemic and they lacked privacy,” a source told Us. “An added bonus is that Montecito is only just over an hour’s drive from L.A., which is where a majority of their work is based, yet far enough away to escape the crowds, paparazzi and tourism in Hollywood.”
