Prince Harry’s decision to move closer to his brother, Prince William, doesn’t guarantee their distant relationship will improve.
“I doubt Harry’s move back to the U.K. is going to completely heal things between William and Harry. It will take a lot more than that,” former royal butler Grant Harrold exclusively shares with Us. “Too much happened. It will be a situation where actions mean more than words.”
According to Harrold, 48, who previously worked with King Charles III and is now a British etiquette expert and broadcaster, William, 44, will need to see Harry, 41, “continuously making an effort to heal the rift.”
“Right now, I don’t see things healing,” Harrold adds. “I think they will be poker-faced and play happy families, but behind the scenes it will take a lot more.”
News broke on Wednesday, August 19, that Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, are relocating their children to the U.K. for an extended period starting later this month. The couple’s son, Prince Archie, 7, and daughter, Princess Lilibet, 5, are also scheduled to begin school there in September.
Harry and Meghan, 45, will reportedly keep their home in Montecito, California, and their vacation residence in Portugal while having non-royal property in Britain.
Although William and his wife, Kate Middleton, have yet to publicly comment on the move, another royal expert suspects they may not be thrilled after falling out with Harry and Meghan over their 2020 royal exit.
“All I can think of is: here we go again,” Brothers and Wives author Christopher Andersen previously told Us when reacting to Harry and Meghan’s move. “For starters, I can only imagine that William and Kate are tearing their hair out. They have so much on their plate as it is trying to shore up the monarchy and propel it into the future; they don’t really need to cope with having Harry and Megan on their proverbial doorstep.”
For now, Harrold says it’s too soon to fully know how members of the royal family will handle this change of events.
“The question will be how members of the family — including the wider family — will take this,” he explains to Us. “I think Harry has a lot of work to do.”
Two people Harry may be able to reconnect with on a deep level are Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. At the same time, Sarah Ferguson’s daughters also have a tight bond with William.
“I think that it is possible they will reconnect with their cousins. They were always close,” Harrold, who is a partner of OLBG, predicts. “We have to remember that Beatrice and Eugenie are also friends with William. I don’t think that they will take a side, but Harry’s relationship with William might make the reunion slightly tricky.”
