Tensions between William, Harry at heart of royal feud

OPINION — In any relationship that’s experiencing a major disagreement, there comes a point when one party must put aside their grievances and agree to a truce, even if it’s a temporary one.
Pride and stubbornness can get in the way and when you add in busy schedules and distance, repairing the damage can be even harder.
So it’s no wonder the rift between Prince Harry and his royal relatives remains as wide and as broken as ever.
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The Duke of Sussex flew in to London from California for the WellChild Awards on Monday evening, a charity he has supported for 16 years as its patron. He was then due to visit visit Lesotho, in southern Africa, for a series of engagements to promote Sentebale, the charity he founded in 2006.
It was Prince Harry’s fourth visit to the UK this year but once again, he isn’t believed to have met his father the King or brother, the Prince of Wales.
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The last time the duke saw the King, face to face, is understood to have been in February immediately after the monarch revealed he had been diagnosed with cancer.
Harry was granted a short meeting with his father at Clarence House but it lasted around 40 minutes before the King departed for Sandringham as planned.
Prince Harry was back again in May when he attended a service of thanksgiving to mark 10 years since the creation of the Invictus Games. But no members of his immediate family were at St Paul’s Cathedral to support the duke.
He also turned down an offer by the King to stay at Buckingham Palace, with Harry claiming the royal residence was not secure enough, opting for a hotel instead.
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At the time, a spokesman for the duke said Harry had been unable to see Charles due to his father’s “full programme” and that he “hopes to see him soon”.
Prince Harry flew into the UK again in late August for the funeral of his uncle, Lord Robert Fellowes. The duke stayed at the Althorp Estate, the childhood home of his late mother, Diana, at the invitation of her brother Earl Spencer.
Prince William was also at the service but the brothers did not speak, according to witnesses. If reports are to be believed, they haven’t spoken to each other since September 2022 when their grandmother died.
Understandably, the Prince of Wales seems to be holding a grudge towards his younger brother following Harry and Meghan’s repeated sharing of family secrets to the media since their royal exit in 2020.
With Prince William now heir to the throne, and hugely influential behind the scenes due to his closeness to the King and Queen, he appears to be the biggest barrier blocking Prince Harry’s welcome back into the royal fold.
Each time Prince Harry sets foot on home soil, there are questions over whether he’ll meet his father and brother and finally make some progress in repairing their damaged relationship.
But each time, royal watchers are left disappointed.
There just seems to be no end to this ongoing family feud.
And it is likely to be down to Prince William calling the shots.
Prince Harry’s criticisms of the Princess of Wales in his memoir Spare would be hard for Prince William to forgive and forget, particularly in a year that has been so challenging for the Wales family.
ITV royal editor Chris Ship says the lack of dialogue between Prince William and Prince Harry was telling.
“There was a geographical reason why [Harry] didn’t see King Charles while he was here, King Charles is currently in Scotland on the Balmoral estate, Harry is in London – that’s 500 or so miles [800 kilometres] away – but Prince William is just down the road, he’s in Windsor and it’s almost a suburb of London,” Ship told Today.
“Could Harry have popped down there for half an hour? Yes, of course he could but that’s not happening at the moment.
“And that tells you everything you need to know about the depths of that rift between the two brothers.”
This trip to the UK was also Prince Harry’s seventh high-profile appearance in just a week without the Duchess of Sussex, following a series of events in New York last week connected with his various charities and another on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Four visits to the UK this year and four years since Megxit, the stand-off between Harry and his family looks set to continue on until 2025.
As Christmas approaches so too will the question over whether Harry and Meghan, and their children, will be invited to Sandringham for Christmas with the royals.
Unlikely – Harry and Meghan last had Christmas with the royals in 2018 – but the question will nonetheless be asked over and over until then.
As the Princess of Wales prepares to host her annual Together at Christmas carols concert at Westminster Abbey in early December, the royal family will once again be split in two: those loyal to the King, and the Sussexes.
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