Harry and William Are in ‘Danger’ of Heading for a ‘Bonkers’ New ‘Normal’ After U.K. Visit, Expert Says
Prince Harry and Prince William are on their way to a new “normal.” An expert says the royals being in the same place without seeing each other could simply be how things are after the Duke of Sussex visited the U.K. in September 2023 and didn’t meet with his brother or father, King Charles III.
Harry didn’t see King Charles or William during his brief U.K. visit
Harry made a short U.K. visit on his way to Germany for the Invictus Games. His schedule included speaking at the WellChild Awards on Sept. 7, 2023, and visiting Queen Elizabeth II’s grave the next day on the one-year anniversary of her death. However, what it didn’t include was seeing his brother, the Prince of Wales, or father.
“To me, it seems absolutely bonkers that you would come over from California and not see your brother and father for even the briefest of meetings,” Jennie Bond, a royal expert, told OK! Magazine. “But it seems that they, and we, have now got used to the idea that Harry will come and go to the UK without troubling to have any family meetings.”
“King Charles will be in Scotland, and Prince William is due to be in Wales for the anniversary of the late Queen’s death,” she continued. “Even so, a meeting would obviously have been possible, if the will on either side had been there. But it seems that feelings are still too raw and the rift too deep. The danger is that this becomes a normal state of affairs for them.”
Harry’s U.K. visit lasted approximately 24 hours, comprising of the awards ceremony and visiting the queen’s grave on Sept. 8, 2023, before boarding a flight for Germany.
A funeral could be the next time Harry sees William
So when will Harry and William be in the same room again? Probably not for a long while, according to royal expert Gareth Russell. “I don’t think we’ll see a great deal of interaction between the Sussexes and the rest of the royal family for quite some time,” he told Us Weekly.
“I can’t think of a really big royal event that’s coming up for the next couple of years,” Russell continued. “There’s obviously no coronation, no wedding — as far as we know — no christenings. Even those big events were not enough to completely reunite the family. We didn’t see all of the Sussexes at the coronation.”
Harry attended his father, King Charles III’s crowning without his wife, Meghan Markle.
“The next time we see all of them together could be when there is a big attempt at a successful bridge building,” Russell said. “Or, really unfortunately, the next time we could see them all together is another funeral.”
William isn’t expected to answer any questions about Harry during his upcoming visit to New York
The chances of William talking about Harry when he travels to New York, New York, for the Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit on Sept. 19, 2023, are practically nonexistent, per The Mirror.
“Prince William reportedly has no plans to answer questions about his bitter feud with brother,” the outlet said. Citing a report from The Sunday Times, major U.S. TV networks have tried to lock down an interview with William. However, “the future king has reportedly flat out refused to answer questions about his younger brother,” the Mirror said.
William, an aide said, has other things to focus on, namely his shift to “global statesman.”
“This trip is part of his evolution as a global statesman, which is incredibly important, especially since becoming Prince of Wales,” an aide said. “He and his courtiers have been thinking about how to manage that transition from Duke of Cambridge to the next king.”
“The U.S. is very important to him,” they continued. “The world’s climate movers and shakers will be in New York having conversations about the future of the planet, and the prince is keen to be part of those conversations and put Earthshot front and center.”
Meanwhile, Harry’s in Düsseldorf, Germany, for the Invictus Games, which end on Sept. 16, 2023, one day after he turns 39.
