After his father, Prince Charles, Prince William is second in the line of succession to the
British throne – but according to one expert, this future king of England might also be
the last.
It's no secret that things have been rocky between Prince William and Prince Harry for
quite some time.
But what does their dispute mean for William's future as king?
And will they make up in time for Harry to write about it in his memoir?
Their royal rift reportedly began after Harry and Meghan Markle said "I do" in 2018.
According to Vanity Fair's royal reporter Katie Nicholl, a source close to the family
revealed that Harry felt his brother wasn't making a good enough effort with his new sister-in-law,
and that's when the couple was asked to attend Christmas with the Cambridges.
Unfortunately, it seemed William was still not warming up to Meghan.
Meghan and Harry talked about the mistreatment they felt they were receiving within the royal
family when the couple sat down with Oprah Winfrey for their now-infamous interview in
2021.
"But I've got to do something for my own mental health, for my wife's, um, and for Archie's,
as well, because I could see where this was headed."
It was for the sake of their mental health and happiness that the couple eventually left
their royal duties behind in the beginning of 2020, and moved to the United States.
The distance and tell-all interviews haven't helped to mend the feud between the two princes,
and it seems a royal expert believes this will affect William's future as king.
Prince William and Kate Middleton have already established that they prefer a more modern
monarchy by announcing that they want to go by their first names, according to the Mirror.
It was a move that the couple decided to make after their messy royal tour in the Caribbean
back in March.
A source revealed,
"They want to be more approachable, less formal, less stuffy, and break away with a lot of
the tradition."
While the Cambridges are attempting to rebrand what it means to be a royal, former royal
editor for The Sun, Duncan Larcombe, thinks William has to make more of an effort with
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle first.
Larcombe told the Daily Beast,
"If William wants to be a future king, a great leader giving inspiring addresses about the
environment to two billion people, then the public are within their rights to expect him
to be able to sort out a frankly pretty minor dispute with his brother.
He has to start showing some leadership here."
Larcombe also told the Daily Beast that mending the relationship between Prince William and
Prince Harry falls on William alone.
As the future king, he has to be the bigger man.
Larcombe said, "If he really does believe he is the chap
chosen by god to be king, then he should be capable of sorting out this row with his brother."
"I love William to bits.
He's my brother.
We've been through hell together, and we have a shared experience."
Of course, some would argue that Harry has a lot to apologize for after leaving the royal
family and airing some family drama in his Oprah Winfrey interview, but to Larcombe,
"William has got a lot more to lose than Harry.
The monarchy could be lost on his watch."
With Prince Harry's memoir looming, now would be a great time for William to call up his
brother to apologize.
It could prevent him from revealing even more royal secrets that would just upset William
more.
In fact, the royal editor for The Sunday Times, Roya Nikkhah, suggested that a possibility
for the delay in Harry's memoir could be that he is potentially writing about the queen's
Platinum Jubilee celebration.
If Harry still has time to write, he still has time to edit as well.
But Prince Harry's chapter on the Platinum Jubilee (if there is one) might not feature
his brother at all.
Despite the couple officially leaving the royal family, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry
traveled to England with their children for the event.
Unfortunately, it reportedly did not fix the brothers' relationship.
According to Yahoo! News UK's royal executive editor Omid Scobie, Prince William and Prince
Harry didn't speak at all during the festivities.
This is only the second time that Prince Harry has been back to visit his family since moving
to California, so there's no telling when the next opportunity for the two to meet will
be.
Prince Harry did seem to make some amends with other members of the royal family though.
The Platinum Jubilee was the first time that Queen Elizabeth II met her great-granddaughter,
Lilibet, who was named after the 96-year-old.
"Being with her, it was great.
It was just so nice to see her."
While she finally met Lilibet, the queen reportedly refused to let Meghan and Harry's photographer
in to capture the moment.
We'll take this as a sign that the relationship isn't completely mended.
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