Is the ice thawing in William and Harry's strained relationship? An
alleged "temporary truce" offers shocking new revelations. Let's
dig into the details about the "royal drama" surrounding the fractured fab four.
Let's take a trip back to November 2018, shall we? Rumors started spreading that
there was drama not between the brothers, but between Princess Catherine and Meghan Markle.
However, according to the Daily Mail, the feud began after footage seemed to
show Markle trying to engage in a conversation with Prince William and the prince giving her
the cold shoulder. Additionally, around this time, royal reporter Katie Nicholl confirmed
that Prince Harry and Prince William were not getting along. A source shared with Nicholl
that Harry allegedly told William that he was not actively including Markle in the
family at the beginning of their relationship. According to Cosmopolitan, the source claimed:
"Harry felt William wasn't rolling out the red carpet for Meghan and told him so. They had a
bit of a fallout, which was only resolved when Charles stepped in and asked William to make an
effort. That's when the Cambridges invited the Sussexes to spend Christmas with them."
Things began to get real by February 2019, after TLC began promoting a new documentary,
Kate vs. Meghan: Princesses at War? In the documentary,
TLC speculated on the relationship between Meghan Markle and Princess Catherine,
basically pitting them against one another. In the film, reporter Kate Nicholl claimed that
Prince William was very concerned about his brother's relationship with Markle
and was worried they were moving too quickly, which didn't go over well with Prince Harry.
As rumors of the feud between the royal brothers and their wives continued,
it wasn't until March 2019 when royal filmmaker Nick Bullen confirmed to Fox
News that the rift had nothing to do with Princess Catherine and Markle,
and everything to do with Prince William and Prince Harry. Bullen said:
"It's actually that William and Harry have had a rift. All brothers fall out.
All families fall out. Their fallout at the moment is becoming public."
On top of it all, People reported one month later that the brothers attended
an Easter service and didn't speak at all, keeping their distance the entire time.
When May 2019 rolled around, things seemed like they were starting to turn around.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry officially welcomed their first child, baby Archie.
The couple shared the news on their Instagram page and the world was beyond excited. However,
fans of the royal family began to notice that Prince William and Princess Catherine waited eight
hours to congratulate Prince Harry and Markle on social media about the birth of their son,
leading everyone to believe that the rift was still going strong.
However, in June 2019, royal reporter Katie Nicholl told
Entertainment Tonight that ever since the birth of baby Archie,
the brothers were rebuilding their relationship and spending more time together. Nicholl said:
"It's absolutely the case that the brothers did fall out. I was told by a very senior
royal source that actually they weren't talking to each other at one point. I certainly think
now that Archie is here, it has probably really helped to improve the relationship."
Just when we thought things were getting better,
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry made the decision to split from the joint charity they shared with
Prince William and Princess Catherine. In June 2019, Cosmopolitan reported that the
Palace made a statement confirming the charity will go on without Prince Harry and Markle.
One month later, Prince William and Princess Catherine were seen at baby Archie's christening,
but they did not look too happy to be there. Fans of the royal family were saying that
Prince William looked "sour" in a group photo that was shared online. Additionally,
a source told Us Weekly that supposedly, Prince William and Princess Catherine
"weren't happy" about the christening being private. The source claimed:
"William thinks his brother is going overboard keeping Archie
out of the spotlight [...] [And he] blames Meghan."
In October 2019, Prince Harry basically admitted to the fact that there was a royal
feud going on between him and his brother. In the ITV documentary Harry & Meghan:
An African Journey, Harry opened up about what is going on between the two, saying:
"Part of this role and part of this job, and this family,
being under the pressure that it's under, inevitably, you know, stuff happens."
Harry then added:
"Look, we're brothers, we'll always be brothers. And we're certainly on different paths at the
moment, but I'll always be there for him, as I know he'll always be there for me."
He continued to discuss that although they aren't as close,
the media tends to make things seem worse than they actually are. Harry said:
"The majority of this stuff is created out of nothing,
but you know, as brothers, you know, you have good days, you have bad days."
In November 2019, a source revealed to Us Weekly that the feud between
the two royal brothers is "one of the main reasons" Prince Harry and Meghan
Markle were skipping Christmas celebrations with the family.
In January 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced that they were officially
taking a step back from their senior duties in the royal family. In a post on Instagram,
Prince Harry and Markle shared the news that they planned to become financially independent,
which naturally caused chaos. A source told Us Weekly that
Prince William was "incredibly hurt" and "blindsided" by the decision.
Shortly after leaving their royal duties, Markle and Prince Harry signed a massive
multimillion-dollar deal with Netflix in September 2020 to make TV shows,
documentaries, and movies. Entertainment Tonight reported that Prince William and the rest of the
royal family are unhappy that his brother and Markle are working with the same production
company that created The Crown, the Netflix show based on the lives of the royal family.
"The crown must win, must always win."
In March 2021, things went downhill when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sat down
to talk with Oprah Winfrey, with the entire world watching. During the tell-all interview,
the Sussexes openly discussed leaving the royal family,
and Prince Harry briefly touched on the feud between him and his brother. Harry told Oprah:
"As I've said before, I love William to bits. He's my brother. We've been
to hell together. But we're on different paths."
Harry went on to add:
"The relationship is space at the moment. And, you know, time heals all things, hopefully."
A source told Us Weekly that Prince William and Princess Catherine were
in "total shock" over the tell-all interview. The source revealed:
"What shocked them the most was Meghan's suicidal thoughts and their quotes on a
royal family member mentioning Archie's skin color. William and Kate knew about
some of their troubles with palace aides, but nothing to this extent."
In April 2021, amid Prince Philip's funeral, Cosmopolitan reported that
things were still "extremely frosty" between the brothers. A source told the Mirror,
"[Harry] wrote a deeply personal note to his dad to try and set things straight,
but tensions are still running high and things haven't exactly ironed out the way he had hoped."
By the time July 2021 rolled around,
things seemed to have taken a turn in the royal brothers' relationship. After they
were reunited for the unveiling of their late mother's statue, a source revealed to Us Weekly
that things went as smoothly as possible given the circumstances. The source said:
"They have absolutely turned a new page in their relationship and have started the healing.
Everyone around them was thrilled to see how close they were on the day of the statue unveiling."
However, royal author Omid Scobie revealed to ET Online that there were "still feelings of anger"
toward Harry and Meghan about the way the couple stepped back from their official duties within
the royal family. Although they have made a few public interactions over the year, Scobie said,
"The relationship between Harry and William is still very much one of distance. I don't
just mean physical [distance], across the Atlantic, but they are not talking that much,
and that is exactly how sources close to William have put it."
In January 2022, Prince Harry revealed his next endeavor: a memoir. Penguin Random House made the
announcement that the book was set to be released in late 2022, but after the queen's passing,
it was pushed back to 2023. A source told Page Six that there is major speculation
about why Prince Harry's book was pushed back in the first place. The source said:
"The big question [is whether Harry is] taking out anything potentially bad he wrote about [William,
Charles, and Camilla] now? Who knows what will change. He would never write anything
bad about the queen. He always has had the utmost love and respect for her."
In April 2022, royal expert Katie Nicholl told ET Online that Harry wants to use a
mediator to rebuild his relationship with his brother. Nicholl told the outlet:
"Harry, I'm told, suggested perhaps that they might get some sort of a mediator in on some
of these talks, to make some progress. It was something that he had suggested to his father.
He's made it very clear that he wants to sort things out. He wants things to be improved."
After the brothers attended the queen's Platinum Jubilee together in May 2022, royal expert Richard
Fitzwilliams told Us Weekly that the rift between the brothers wasn't completely over. Fitzwilliams
also added that there was a lot of tension surrounding the release of Harry's memoir.
By June 2022, a source told the Daily Mail that Harry and William's relationship following the
Jubilee was still at "rock bottom." In August of 2022, The Sun reported that Prince William
and Princess Catherine were set to not see Prince Harry or Meghan Markle until
the release of the memoir. According to the outlet, Prince William allegedly felt that
he couldn't trust his brother to keep their conversations between themselves.
After the passing of the queen, the brothers came together to pay their respects alongside
Meghan Markle and Princess Catherine. A royal source told The U.S. Sun that
Prince William asked Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to join them during the walkabout.
The Sunday Times later reported that getting the brothers together "required
extended negotiations beforehand," which subsequently delayed their arrival by 45
minutes. So things may still be tense between the two. However, according to The Sun,
this reunion was only a "temporary truce." Together, the group of four looked at tributes
left for the queen outside of the Berkshire castle and collected flowers from the crowd.