Can’t Harry and Wills be brothers in arms for ever?

SADLY, it is now official. Harry and Meghan are formally to separate their Kensington households and offices from William and Kate’s. After decades of us believing Diana and Charles’s boys were inseparable, they are going their own ways.

Of course, the separation was inevitable. William is 36 and Harry 34. The former must step up to prepare for the day he becomes Prince of Wales and heir to the throne.

Harry, on the other hand, must accept his role as another jobbing royal — a senior one, yes, but we must always remember he is only sixth in line to the throne.

Yet the parting of these boys still feels wrong, somehow. Almost like a divorce.

They have been through so much together. They endured the bitter disintegration of their parents’ marriage. Supported each other after Diana’s death. The fraternal bond forged under the intense media spotlight is so tangible, strong — and seemed so unbreakable.

In a way, there are three degrees of separation. First, the practical business, as in any divorce. The disentangling of their business — or charitable — interests.

Who can forget how, only a year ago, the Fab Four made their first official appearance together to support the Royal Foundation, described on its website as ‘the primary philanthropic and charitable vehicle for The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’. Can the foundation now continue to exist? Then there’s the geographical

separation. While the Cambridges will continue to live in and operate from Kensington Palace, the Sussexes will move to Frogmore Cottage at Windsor. True, Harry and Meghan will keep London offices — but, tellingly, at Buckingham Palace, not Kensington.

Living out at Windsor, Harry and Meghan surely risk being left out of the royal loop.

There’s an ominous precedent, too: the future Edward VIII, who also married an American divorcee, chose to live at Fort Belvedere in Windsor and it’s where he signed the instrument of abdication.

But perhaps the most significant degree of separation is one of outlook, or ‘world view’. Since Meghan came on the scene, Harry’s outlook has changed — he’s become more ‘righton’ and politically correct. That might explain the appointment of celebrity American PR guru Sara Latham to handle the Sussexes’ affairs — but it could not be more different from Kate and William’s outlook.

New offices, a new home and an exciting new path for the couple. But I just wish Wills and Harry could remain brothers in arms for ever.