Following Prince Harry’s latest bombshell interview after losing his court battle for taxpayer-funded security while he’s in the UK, his brother Prince William is laying down the law with his wife Kate Middleton and asking her to end all contact with Harry.
As heat has reported on multiple occasions, Kate has stayed in regular contact with the Duke of Sussex, and now we’re told that – despite her husband’s wishes – Kate is reluctant to turn her back on her brother-in-law, risking a bust-up with the Prince of Wales.
‘William is absolutely livid that Harry’s on the offensive again and giving interviews – he has no doubt that there’s worse to come,’ an insider tells heat. He suspects that Meghan is involved in this, too. He’s told everyone in the family to have as little to do with the Sussexes as possible, as anything they say or do could be used as ammunition against the family. The way William sees it, Harry and Meghan have essentially re-declared war on The Firm and the best response is for them to be as defensive as possible.’
The source continues, ‘As much as William hates laying down the law with his own wife, he thinks this is the only way to protect the whole family. His biggest fear is that anything Kate says to Harry could be used against her or the family at a later date, especially if he goes ahead with another book or Meghan decides to do her own memoir. It’s a big ask for Kate and there’s no guarantee that she’ll agree to William’s demands. Kate cares very deeply about Harry and is desperately worried about him.’
In Harry’s shock interview with BBC News, he revealed that his father King Charles is not speaking to him because of his decision to go to court about his and wife Meghan Markle’s security arrangements. He’s said that without state-funded protection he will not bring Meghan or their children – Archie, six, and Lilibet, three – to the UK with him.
The prince received particular criticism for talking about Charles’ health battle – the King was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer in February 2024. In the interview, Harry, 40, said, ‘Life is precious. I don’t know how much longer my father has, he won’t speak to me because of this security stuff, but it would be nice to reconcile.’ The duke added that the ruling was ‘a good old fashioned establishment stitch-up’.
While not publicly addressing the court’s decision, Meghan, 43, seemed to show support for her husband by sharing a photo of him holding hands with Archie and carrying Lilibet on his shoulders in a garden in California.
And our source tells us while Kate, 43, is just as shocked as everybody else by Harry’s no-holds-barred approach, she is still struggling to cut all communication with him and is urging William, 42, and Charles, 76, to show mercy and not come down too hard on him.
We’re told, ‘Kate’s incredibly frustrated with Harry, but she’s also annoyed that William and others have let the situation slide so horribly out of control. It absolutely breaks her heart seeing the family so openly at odds with each other, and it’s her strong view that taking such a hard line with Harry will only make the situation worse. That’s why she’s imploring William, Charles, Camilla and others to soften their stance and reach out to Harry to try to make peace. It’s a huge ask, but Kate’s doing everything she can to fix this dreadful situation before it spirals even further out of control.
The source continues, ‘Kate fully agrees that Harry made a huge mistake giving this interview, there’s no getting away from that, and ultimately her loyalty is to William, The King and the many other members of the family who have been mortally offended by his latest attack. But at the same time, she can see and feel the pain Harry’s going through – it’s written all over his face.’