If it's true that Prince Harry turned down the opportunity to meet with Prince William,
there's reason to believe there may be no going back for the brothers.
William, Prince of Wales, and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, have been at odds for well
over two years.
Many believe that the royals had a falling out after Harry decided to step down as a
senior member of the royal family in early 2020, however, according to Vanity Fair, their
rift may have started long before then.
Although William did serve as the best man in Harry's May 2018 wedding, the two have
grown apart in the years since, only coming together at certain events for brief periods
of time.
For example, Harry traveled to the U.K. in April 2021 after Prince Philip passed away.
When the brothers shared a chat on their walk back to Windsor Castle, many hoped that the
two would be able to work things out.
They reunited again at the unveiling of a statue of their mother in July 2021, where
they put on a "united front," as Entertainment Tonight reported.
"That's quite emotional I think, being a Brit, seeing them, the two brothers, side by side."
More recently, the two princes were together at the funeral service for their grandmother,
Queen Elizabeth The Second, who died on September 8th.
However, shortly after the funeral service ended, Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, Duchess
of Sussex, were on a plane back to the States.
"There wasn't you know a sit down dinner or any time, as far as I'm told from my sources,
for the brothers to try and sort things out."
One of the reasons Harry and Meghan originally left the U.K. was because of the onslaught
of tabloid attention surrounding the royal family.
In his sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired in March 2021, Harry called the
U.K. media "bigoted" and said it creates a "toxic environment" of "control and fear."
Given this information, it's easy to understand why Harry wouldn't want any meeting with his
brother — or the details of that meeting — being leaked to the press.
And that's supposedly why he decided against talking with his brother when William wanted
to make things right, according to a book called "Courtiers: Intrigue, Ambition, and
the Power Players Behind the House of Windsor" by Valentine Low.
In the book, Low writes,
"[Harry] was so concerned that William's team would leak the visit to the press that he
would rather they did not come than risk it getting into the papers."
The book indicates that William was determined to make amends with Harry but the plans didn't
play out the way he had hoped.
Just five months later, Harry and Meghan left the U.K. in search of a life that they could
live on their own terms.
Although royal watchers were delighted to see the estranged brothers finally back together
for the walkabout at Windsor Castle, an insider clarified to People magazine that the outing
was far more "awkward" than it appeared.
The siblings were reportedly putting on a brave face for the sake of their beloved grandmother
— and that was it.
During an appearance on British talk show "Lorraine," The Sunday Times' royal editor,
Roya Nikkhah, pretty much confirmed the ongoing tension.
"My understanding is things are pretty tense and pretty frosty still between them which
is a shame."
Nikkhah also pointed to the incident discussed in Low's book in which Harry turned down the
meeting with his brother.
"And that gives you an insight into just how tricky and perhaps lacking in trust that relationship
now is."
Royal expert Katie Nicholl claimed in an interview on "Dan Wootton Tonight" that the Prince of
Wales blames his younger brother for, essentially, abandoning him.
Nicholl explained,
"William simply can't forgive [Harry], not just for his behavior and what he's done and
how he's done it, but look at how much now rests on William.
He always thought Harry would be his wingman, now he's doing it on his own."
"I don't think what we've seen over the last couple of days is anywhere near where we hoped
that the brothers might be."