The British royal family are no strangers to infighting, but the latest supposed feud to pique public interest is one that royalists would’ve never predicted: the alleged feud between Prince William and Prince Harry.
The brothers were once thick as thieves, however since Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle stepped down as senior members of the royal family in January of 2020 their once-inseparable bond has been reportedly shattered, leading to strain and conflict for both the Sussexes and the Waleses on both sides of the Atlantic.
Since Prince Harry and Meghan’s relocation to Montecito the pair had kept tight-lipped about their departure from ‘the firm’ and in correlation the role his older brother played in their departure.
That was until their tell-all Oprah interview, which was the catalyst for the Sussexes to reclaim their narrative and finally reveal their side of the story.
Now, almost three years after Prince Harry left, he’s finally shedding light into the fractured relationship he has with his brother, making damming allegations about the heir-apparent in his wake.
Following the release of the Sussexes incredibly controversial documentary Harry & Meghan, Prince Harry’s explosive memoir Spare, we’ve chronicled the complete history of the alleged royal feud between the Princes.
November 2018: Royal Report Claims Prince William And Prince Harry Had A Falling Out Over Christmas In 2017
During November of 2018, the internet was alight with rumours that there was slight tension between Prince William and Prince Harry, primarily due to the fact the Sussexes had chosen to move from Kensington Palace (where the then-Cambridges lived) to Frogmore Cottage on Windsor Estate.
However, Vanity Fair’s royal reporter, Katie Nicholl, reported that a close friend of Prince Harry’s revealed to her the move was due to a tension caused by a row between the brothers in the Christmas of 2017.
“Harry felt William wasn’t rolling out the red carpet for Meghan and told him so. They had a bit of a fall out 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,” Nicholl reported.
December 2018: Prince William Appears To Snub Meghan Markle During Annual Christmas Celebration At Sandringham
In a video taken during the royal family’s annual Christmas celebration at Sandringham, Prince William appears to snub Meghan Markle by apparently ignoring her.
Given reports that there was already mounting tension between William and Harry during this time, this supposed snub could have correlated to a further rift between the brothers.
Neither of the Princes, their wives or their offices commented on the matter, so the social media allegations were simply that: speculation.
March 2019: Prince William And Prince Harry Officially Split Their Royal Households
The splitting of the Cambridge and Sussex households made global headlines at the time, mainly as a result of intense speculation behind the reason of the separation.
In a statement made by Buckingham Palace representatives revealed the rational for the “long-planned move” will “ensure that permanent support arrangements for the Duke and Duchess’ work are in place as they start their family and move to their official residence at Frogmore Cottage”.
Neither households addressed the speculation surrounding the split.
April 2019: Prince William And Prince Harry Appear To Ignore Each Other During Easter Mass Service
During an Easter Sunday service held at Windsor, reports claimed that Prince William and Prince Harry didn’t speak to one another throughout the occasion.
Reports claim that this is part of an intentional ‘distance strategy’, whereby the two Princes are separated to avoid potential altercations or further speculations.
July 2019: Sources Claim Prince William Believes Prince Harry Is Going “Overboard” To Protect Archie’s Privacy
According to an anonymous royal insider, the Sussexes decision to keep Archie’s baptism private was not well received by Prince William.
As per US Weekly, the source claimed “William thinks his brother is going overboard keeping Archie out of the spotlight”, before adding Prince William supposedly “blames Meghan”.
August 2019: Prince Harry Alleged Accuses Prince William Of Intentionally Sabotaging His Relationship With Meghan Markle
In August of 2019, the unauthorised royal documentary William & Harry: Princes at War was released, revealing damning allegations that Prince Harry went “ballistic” at Prince William.
According to a series of royal correspondents, Prince Harry and Prince William’s feud was the result of Prince William warning Prince Harry to not rush into his relationship with Meghan.
“The biggest cause of their so-called rift was Wills tried to warn Harry when he met Meghan not to rush into it. He’d only known her for less than a year when they got engaged,” said Sky News journalist Carole Malone.
According to The Sun’s royal correspondent Emily Andrews, Prince Harry “went ballistic and said, ‘You’re trying to wreck this relationship before it’s even started’”.
Katie Nicholl also added that the “the dynamic changed, that there was a shift and it was largely down to Harry resenting his brother”.
October 2019: Prince Harry Finally Addresses The Alleged Feud With Prince William
In the shocking ITV documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey—the one where Meghan revealed she felt “vulnerable” and that “not many people have asked if I’m ok”—Prince Harry finally addressed rumours about the feud between him and his brother.
“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,” he said.
“But 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.”
Prince Harry didn’t comment on the specificities of the “stuff” that happened between the pair, but the speculation in regards to Prince William’s feelings towards Meghan Markle is probably what Prince Harry was referencing.
January 2020: Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Step Back As Senior Members Of The Royal Family
In January of 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle shocked the world when they revealed they were stepping back as senior members of the royal family.
As per Buckingham Palaces official statement, the royal household was “saddened” by the decision, however sources claim that Prince William was “really sad and genuinely shocked”.
In Harry & Meghan, Prince Harry himself instead claims that William yelled at him during the meeting whereby it was decided that the Sussexes stepping back from duty was the only path forward for them.
“It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me, and my father say things that just simply weren’t true, and my grandmother quietly sit there and just take it all in,” he said in the docuseries.
September 2020: Prince William Reportedly “Unhappy” About Prince Harry Signing Multi-Million Dollar Deal With Netflix
As per reports from The Sun, Prince William was allegedly “livid” over Prince Harry and Meghan’s multi-million dollar Netflix deal.
“William and other senior royals are incredibly uncomfortable about this drama and livid Harry is now in partnership with the company that’s airing it,” the source told the publication.
At the time of the deals announcement, the Sussexes wrote that their partnership with Netflix would “focus will be on creating content that informs but also gives hope”.
Given that the streaming giant produces The Crown, their choice to partner with Netflix could be inferred as a dig.
March 2021: The Infamous Tell-All Interview With Oprah
While the Sussexes certainly revealed a fair amount in their tell-all interview with Oprah, one area Prince Harry certainly didn’t provide too much detail on was his current standing with his brother.
“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,” he said.
“The relationship is ‘space’ at the moment,” he added. “And time heals all things, hopefully.”
As for Prince William’s response? Following the accusations made by the Sussexes that a senior member of the royal family questioned what skin colour Archie would have, Prince William rebutted by claiming they are “very much not a racist family”.
In Harry & Meghan, the docuseries reveals the moment Prince Harry received communication from Prince William after the interview.
During the show we see Prince Harry receive a text, and although we don’t see the contents it is clearly very emotionally charged and leads to Prince Harry getting distressed.
“I wish I knew what to do,” he said.
April 2021: Prince William And Prince Harry Appear To Put Feud Aside At Prince Philip’s Funeral
After a turbulent year-and-a-half since leaving the royal family, Harry reunited with his family for the first time since the explosive tell-all Oprah interview at Prince Philip’s funeral.
According to a source, the royal family believed that the occasion “wasn’t the time nor the place to go over things, especially at such an emotional time for everybody involved”.
During the funeral procession, Prince Harry and Prince William could be seen walking side by side behind their grandfather’s coffin.
It was reported that ahead of the funeral the pair spoke for two hours which seemingly aided the brother’s putting on a display of a united front.
May 2022: Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Attend The Queen’s Jubilee Celebration
After reports came out revealing that Prince Harry and Prince William regularly FaceTime, it seemed that the brothers were on their way to healing the tension between them.
However, after what was dubbed as a “frosty” reception (including the Prince William and Kate Middleton skipping Lilibet’s 1st birthday celebration), a source came forward to reveal how Prince William really reacted to their return to England for the Jubilee celebration.
According to friends close to Prince William, the relationship between the brothers was at rock bottom. As per the Daily Mail, Prince William “alternates between grieving for what he has lost and feeling really, really angry about what his brother has done”.
“He truly loves Harry and feels he has lost the only person, aside from his wife, who understood this strange life of theirs,” the sourced added.
September 2022: Prince William And Royal Family Have Lost Trust In Prince Harry And Meghan
After news of Prince Harry’s memoir was announced and Meghan Markle’s interview with The Cut, sources close to the family revealed that the firm no longer feels like they can trust the Sussexes.
As per The Sun, Prince William refused to see Prince Harry until the memoir was released, adding that “they [the Sussexes] have lost their chance of being trusted as the chance is they will use any conversation”.
September 2022: Prince William and Prince Harry Reunite For Queen Elizabeth II’s Funeral
Following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince William and Prince Harry reunited to attend the funeral of their grandmother and late-monarch. Both brothers waked behind the Queen’s coffin, but reportedly did not show any warmth to each other during this time of bereavement.
According to The Guardian a “rapprochement between the brothers seemed far away”.
December 2022: Harry & Meghan Is Released
Prince William reportedly had reservations for the release of Harry & Meghan, and for good reason given the bombshells his brother dropped during the two-part docuseries.
As previously mentioned, Prince Harry revealed that his brother was aggressive towards him when they discussed the potential of Meghan and himself stepping back as senior royals.
Additionally, Prince Harry accused his brother of planting stories about him and his wife in the press.
“To see my brother’s office copy the very same thing that we promised the two of us would never ever do, that was heartbreaking,” he said.
Prince Harry also claimed that he knew nothing about the palace releasing a statement denying that Harry and Meghan were leaving due to Prince William bullying them out.
“Within four hours they were happy to lie to protect my brother, and yet for three years they were never willing to tell the truth to protect us,” he added.
According to sources close to Prince William, the Prince of Wales reportedly cut Harry off following the release of the documentary.
“He [Prince William] has no intention of connecting with Harry anytime soon,” The Mirror claimed.
January 2023: Prince Harry Claims To Want His Brother Back In New Interview
New year, new drama unfolds. To promote his upcoming memoir Spare, Prince Harry sat down for two interviews with 60 Minutes and ITV. In a preview, Prince Harry said “I would like to get my father back, I would like to have my brother back”.
January 2023: Prince Harry Makes Shocking Claim That Prince William Physically Assaulted Him
As per an exclusive report from The Guardian, Prince Harry’s upcoming autobiograhy Spare makes an explosive claim that he was “physically attacked” by his brother, Prince William.
The excerpt reads:
“He set down the water, called me another name, then came at me. It all happened so fast. So very fast. He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. I landed on the dog’s bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me. I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out.”
Based on this excerpt, it’s clear that Prince Harry’s memoir is set to be the most revelatory inside look inside the firm in decades.
May 2023: Both Brothers Are Confirmed To Be Attending King Charles III’s Coronation
Prince Harry confirmed he will attend his father’s upcoming coronation, and all eyes will no doubt be watching to see how (or indeed, if) the two brother’s interact at this momentous occasion.
Speaking to E! News, royal correspondent Sharon Carpenter said, “there won’t be a lot of time for reconciliation talks” during the coronation.
“It’s going to be a jam-packed weekend, so it doesn’t feel like the time or the place—because it could totally go left, as well, and then where would that leave them? At least if we see them cordial together, that is a grand move in the right direction,” she continued.
And hopes for a family-style reunion between the two brothers and their wives were dashed by the news that Meghan Markle, along with children Archie (who turns four on coronation day) and Lilibet, won’t be in attendance. However, a number of royals, celebrities and foreign dignitaries are confirmed to attend.
But reconciliation or not, May 6 promises to be a day for the history books. We’ll certainly be watching.
