Bruising of a brotherly bond
Diana begged her boys to look out for each other for life but, as RICHARD KAY reveals, the whole family are worried about a widening rift
NO picture says more about the natural bonding of brothers than that taken of princes Harry and William at Harry’s wedding last year.
their affection and mutual support for one another on the most public of stages, yet most personal of occasions, was both poignant and compelling.
How utterly tragic then that less than 18 months after that joyous day at Windsor castle, all the talk now is of rift and division between the two princes.
Stories of bad blood had been circulating for months but, with one extraordinary intervention, prince Harry has given credence to the rumours by admitting there have been tensions between the pair.
While a family row of this nature is by no means as constitutionally dangerous as the upheavals over the Abdication and the Duke of Windsor, the implications could be just as damaging, not least because the monarchy is arguably more vulnerable to criticism than it was in the thirties. the early signs are not encouraging.
Within hours of Harry’s candid interview in an itV documentary, during which he said he and his brother are travelling on ‘different paths’, William was concerned enough to permit aides to speak of his worries about Harry’s and Meghan’s welfare.
According to a Kensington palace source quoted by the BBc, William had expressed the hope that his brother and sister-in-law ‘are all right’.
it is highly unusual for officials to voice such personal views on a private family matter. But i understand the ‘Sussex problem’, as Harry and Meghan are referred to within royal circles, has dominated family discussions in recent days.
there is no disguising that the views articulated by William are shared right across the royal Family. While sympathy for a couple struggling to adjust to royal life under a media spotlight does still exist, it is draining away.
But the family are desperate not to be seen driving a deeper wedge between them and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
certainly, the Queen and prince charles had hoped that the challenges of fatherhood following the birth of baby Archie would have overcome the differences that existed between Harry and William. the princes are acutely aware of the importance that their r late mother placed on them m looking out for each other — something she wanted them to do all their lives.
Of course, it didn’t help that stories of differences first began to emerge during Meghan’s pregnancy.
What was being said was that William had earlier questioned the haste with which his younger brother was wanting to marry the American actress.
William, of course, dated Kate Middleton for eight years before giving her an engagement ring.
Harry, on the other hand, had d made up his mind almost t immediately after being introduced to the star of the American tV legal drama Suits — a divorced d woman three years his senior — at t a London dinner party in 2016.
to William, advising caution was common sense. But Harry, ever sensitive, is understood to have e interpreted his brother’s words, , as well as those from others in his s circle, as an implied criticism of f his choice of bride.
He also apparently accused his older brother of failing to offer support, while Kate was said to be struggling to get on with Meghan. to some extent, this explains Harry’s touchiness in the run-up to his wedding, which included a row over Meghan’s tiara.
But after the wedding came two further shocks. One was the announcement that the Sussexes were decamping from Kensington palace where they lived next door to William and Kate, and moving to Windsor.
the other was that the two brothers, whose public lives had been so entwined, were splitting their joint household, with Harry setting his up separately in Buckingham palace.
it then emerged that they were also parting ways over their charity work, with Harry and Meghan set to launch their own royal foundation next year.
But if these were the highly public examples of Harry’s march towards princely independence, there were other, equally significant moves behind the scenes. throughout his troubled 20s, Harry had a close network of reliable friends.
Many of them are no longer part of his magic circle. they include school friends, vital support after princess Diana’s death, whose services are apparently no longer required. Many have been left hurt and baffled. the father of one told me: ‘Harry has stayed in our house and been a very welcome guest over many years, then one day calls went unanswered.
‘it was always pretty much on his terms. He was the one who usually got in touch, but there was no explanation, just silence.’ Other friends say Harry complains they don’t understand him.
Of course, he won’t be the first married man to find new companions after taking a wife. closer to home, i am told Harry left family members puzzled after changing telephone numbers without immediately telling them.
if this sounds familiar, it is because we have been here before — with Diana. She regularly changed mobile numbers as an effective way of dumping friends she no longer wanted. Within the f family, however, there has been growing anxiety. Harry’s failure to spend time with the Queen at Balmoral B during the summer was a strategic mistake.
Family business is usually taken care of during the long summer break in Scotland, and countless intractable conundrums have b been resolved in the civilising atmosphere of royal Deeside.
However, despite his absence f from Balmoral, i understand the Queen has spoken to Harry in the p past month and offered to help.
courtiers, meanwhile, were uneasy about the timing of Harry’s television cri de coeur in the documentary m broadcast on Sunday.
Not only did the advance publicity for it last week threaten to upstage the final part of William and Kate’s highly successful trip to pakistan, it also overshadowed a moving visit by the countess of Wessex to Kosovo, where she met survivors of sexual violence.
‘it is the reason why royal diaries are so carefully co- ordinated, to avoid the risk of clashes between the various households,’ says an aide. ‘Quite simply, you don’t rain on someone else’s parade.’
Sunday’s broadcast also revealed Harry’s wish for the couple to be seen as hard-working members of the royal Family. So it was hardly helped by his announcement that they now plan a six-week holiday.
So what about William? He is certainly perplexed by his brother’s behaviour and believes he has
Wills has expressed hope that Harry and Meghan ‘are all right’
handled some of the issues unwisely. He, too, has had some difficult moments in the media spotlight, including Kate being photographed topless before they married and the ensuing legal fight with the paparazzi.
‘He dealt with these matters in a mature and considered way,’ says a friend. ‘He didn’t allow them to become psychodramas in the way Harry seems to.’
The fact is, William is the same figure who looked out for his younger brother at school. And as uncomfortable as he has clearly found Harry’s outburst, he will always be there for him.
Not long before she died, Diana talked to William about the kind of woman he might marry. She told him that the most important thing was that they should be best friends.
The tragedy of her own marriage, she said, was that she and Prince Charles barely knew one another, and had they been friends first, they would never have separated.
Diana later said that William ‘got’ this. According to one of the Princess’s circle, William’s concern about Harry marrying Meghan so quickly was probably because of that maternal advice about marrying someone you know well.
But then there is also the contrast in the way the brothers are going about their royal lives. While Harry has been criticised for using private jets while preaching about climate change, William and Kate have been seen carrying their own bags onto a budget airline flight to Aberdeen.
Instead of criticising the media as Harry did during his tour to southern Africa, William stopped to speak to them during his trip to Pakistan.
And while he protects his children from publicity, he also knows when to relax — and to be seen relaxing with them — as he did at an Aston Villa football match recently with Kate, George and Charlotte.
There is, of course, sympathy from the royals for Meghan’s difficulty in adjusting to her new status, and because of her relationship with her father and other dysfunctional family members. No one more so, perhaps than Harry’s own father, the Prince of Wales. But while he can offer help — and he has — Harry has not been inclined to accept it.
It is a shame. For the Duchess of Cornwall — Harry’s stepmother — is familiar with the dramas of royal life. No one endured more criticism than Camilla, yet she has built a remarkable relationship with the public who admire her quiet contribution to public life at Charles’s side.
For the Queen, 94 next birthday, this is no ordinary distraction which can be dismissed as mere gossip. Harry has seen to that by addressing it directly on camera. Indeed, it is a family drama that many close to the royals fear could unravel with further damaging revelations.
Your wife should be your best friend, Diana told William