Prince William and Prince Harry’s Feud Exploded Because They Were Raised for Different Futures, Expert Explains
From the outside looking in, Prince William and Prince Harry had the perfect brotherly relationship. Since they are only three years apart in age, the pair were two peas in a pod. Though they lived in the royal spotlight, their mother, the late Princess Diana was adamant about them having normal childhood experiences.
After the princess’s tragic death in 1997, the brothers grew closer. Though Prince Harry had some scandals, Prince William always stuck up for his younger brother and helped guide Prince Harry toward more mature choices. The brothers’ advocacy for others also guided them despite their differing personalities.
Unfortunately in recent years, the princes’ relationship suffered some blows. Prince Harry allegedly took offense to his brother’s suggestion that he was moving too fast with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Now that that the Sussexes have resigned from royal life, the true origins of Prince Harry and Prince Willam’s feud has become more clear.
Prince Harry and Prince William’s relationship began to fracture in 2016
It has been reported that the princes’ relationship began to deteriorate when Pince Harry introduced Meghan to his family shortly after they began dating. Prince William was alarmed at the speed and intensity of the match, and he urged his brother to be cautious. According to Daily Mail, “Harry went mental and accused his brother of trying to finish their relationship before it had started.”
Then, amid Meghan’s feud with her estranged father, Prince William could not understand why the duchess had cut her father off. ‘The Duke of Cambridge reportedly couldn’t understand ignoring a parent, whatever they’d done, having lost his mum at such a young age,” a source told The Sun.
Now, it appears that the royals are afraid all of this will be made public in the tell-all book about the Sussexes, Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of A Modern Royal Family. “They are worried William especially will be portrayed in a bad light,” a source told The Sun. “This sort of family spat shouldn’t be out there in public. This shouldn’t happen to future monarchs. The book could be the most damaging thing to the Royal Family since Prince Diana’s interview on Panorama with Martin Bashir. The concern is it will somehow paint [William] as an unfeeling baddie against kind and philanthropic Harry and Meghan. The aides are privately worried about it. Unsympathetic, unfeeling and unsupportive are the words being used but of course no one knows exactly what’s in it.”
Prince William could be jealous of Prince Harry
As an heir, Prince William has always struggled with his role. “We talked about our children, and [Princess Diana] said William often told her that he didn’t really want to be king, and then Harry would say, ‘If you don’t want the job I’ll have it,’” journalist Jeremy Paxman recalled.
In fact, like he once dreamed of living a quiet life in America, at least for some time. “Having enjoyed a degree of privacy as a student at St Andrew’s, perhaps it’s not such a surprise that William has announced his intention to spend a few years living in the US after he finishes his degree,” reporter Louisa Pearson explained at the time. “Work in a gallery or auction house, and the possibility of a postgraduate degree, have apparently been discussed.”
Prince Harry and Prince William were raised very differently
Though Princess Diana always treated her sons equally, it was clear from the beginning that thy were on separate tracks. As Prince William begins to prepare for his role as Crowed King, that’s become more and more apparent.
“These two brothers — once inseparable and now separated by much more than mere distance — have been acting out the contradictions that go back into their childhoods and even before that: into their parents’ ill-fated marriage,” royal biographer Robert Lacey revealed about his new book, Battle of Brothers: William and Harry — the Friendship and the Feuds. “We have seen conflicts between heir and spare in every recent generation of the royal family — but nothing so profound as this.”
Thankfully, the pair are on a much better track now. “I know that William and Harry are in touch on the phone,” royal expert Katie Nicholl told Entertainment Tonight. “They have done video calls together, they have done a lot of family birthdays and I think with Prince Charles not being well, that really forced the brothers to pick up the phone and get back in touch.”
