We all say and do things we sometimes regret, but no one knows the lasting power of regrettable words more than Prince Harry. For five years now, the former senior royal has remained distanced – both emotionally and physically – from his family, ever since he and wife Meghan Markle stepped down from royal duty in 2020, upped sticks to the US, and proceeded to launch a series of scathing attacks against the monarchy.
But while it’s no secret that, over the past year, Harry’s anger and bitterness towards the family he left behind has cooled off considerably, and he’s been quietly making attempts to build bridges, we’re told the same can’t be same for his older brother. According to insiders, Prince William remains as hurt as ever by Harry’s public attacks against him, their father King Charles, his wife Kate Middleton, and the institution of the monarchy as a whole – and despite Kate’s attempts to reconnect the embittered brothers, Harry’s apologies are falling on deaf ears.
'Harry misses his brother terribly – he’s very hurt by the fact that there’s this distance between them has been unresolved for such a long time now,” says an insider close to the father-of-two, who’s been reportedly reaching out repeatedly to his brother over the past year, but has been met with unanswered calls and messages. “He never thought for a second that they’d go years without speaking – even at their lowest points over the years, they always seemed to find a way to make peace.'
It's certainly an upsetting time for Harry – who’s never admitted in public that he regrets how he treated his family following his royal resignation, despite reports that he’s felt the void of the life he left behind. Last week, comedian Jack Whitehall, who previously socialised with Harry in his pre-Meghan years, weighed in on the prince’s estrangement from his friends and family during an appearance on the Jase & Lauren podcast. When asked if Harry had 'dropped his mates' after getting together with Meghan, Jack cautiously responded, 'Yeah', before noting that, in the old days, he’d 'had a few nights out with him when he was quite fun'. The comedian’s veiled nod to Harry’s isolation in recent times follows other reports that the Duke of Sussex now lives a lonelier existence in Montecito. Last year, Grant Harrold – King Charles’ former butler – said he knows 'quite a few of Harry’s friends who don’t hear from him at all', an observation which comes amid revelations that Meghan never got on, nor approved, of Harry’s friends.
Harrold also noted the chasm between Harry and William, revealing, 'They were both very sociable boys. And that’s what’s so sad about it now – how they’ve gone from best of friends to non-existent really.'
Meanwhile, the biggest insight into Harry’s post-royal life came via last month’s Vanity Fair opus, which was the result of a months-long investigation into every facet of Harry and Meghan’s life. In the piece, the publication spoke to one insider, who revealed what Meghan said about her husband’s sociability in California: 'She was up-front about the fact that Harry hadn’t made many friends yet,' they said.
As for Harry’s feelings on his royal rift – which reached boiling point after he published his 2023 memoir Spare, in which he referred to William as his 'archnemesis', claimed his older brother had 'knocked [him] to the floor' during one heated exchange, and also chastised Kate for her icy behaviour towards Meghan – Vanity Fair revealed Harry simply hadn’t foreseen just what damage his words would do. Speaking to the magazine, another source weighed in, '[Harry] hadn’t absorbed the gravity of what it would mean to sell millions of copies of a tell-all book about a famously insular and circumspect family in the middle of a years-long public relations crisis.'
Yet, while Harry may still not appreciate the gravity of his attacks against the royals – which also included his and Meghan’s tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey, in which they accused Kate of making Meghan cry ahead of her wedding over a disagreement about Princess Charlotte’s flower girl dress – the same can’t be said for William. We’re told he simply cannot forgive the pain of his brother’s public words towards him, which cut even deeper considering the royal family’s longstanding mantra to: 'Never complain, never explain'. And though Kate in particular has been trying her best to temper William’s anger and encourage him to hear Harry out, we’re told the King in waiting simply can’t offer this royal pardon.
'It’s true that William was utterly disgusted by the scale of Harry’s betrayal,' says our source. 'Those attacks he made on Kate, along with the fundamental lack of respect he was perceived to show the monarchy and the stress he inflicted upon the Queen and their father, tipped William over the edge. He maintained then and still does that his brother had well and truly crossed over to the dark side, and there wasn’t a chance in hell that he’d be making overtures or forgiving him for the foreseeable future – and he’s stayed true to his word. He’s resisted the chance to see his brother in the UK when the latter’s been back for various visits, and he doesn’t pick up the phone to exchange pleasantries or even wish him a happy birthday or Christmas. He doesn’t deprive Kate or others of the right to talk to Harry, it's just not on William’s agenda.'
Last week, Harry was pictured out in force at his beloved Invictus Games in Vancouver, Canada – defying critics who have questioned the stability of his and Meghan’s marriage by packing on the PDAs with his wife in the stands. But behind the scenes, insiders report that he’s growing increasingly worried that he’ll never make amends with his brother, and is slowly but surely understanding the gravity of his words and actions. As for William, we’re told he’s made peace with the rift; and while he wishes Harry well, he’s staying true to his zero-tolerance policy.
'William sees that Harry is lonely and is clearly lost in his new life, and it saddens him,' we’re told. 'Even if they’re estranged, there’s that bloodline that binds them together and always will. But he’s not being swayed by tales of Harry’s loneliness or half-baked olive branches that come his way every so often from Montecito. The bottom line is that Harry has a mountain to climb if he wants his UK family back – and as far as William is concerned, he’s done the kind of damage that is utterly unforgivable.'