The air around Prince Harry still feels thick with family tension, even as he mends fences with his father, King Charles. While the two have started to repair their fractured bond, the chill between Harry and his brother, Prince William, along with sister-in-law Kate Middleton, remains. It seems some wounds just take a long, long time to heal.
"There’s still a lot of strain between William and Kate," a source told a prominent entertainment outlet. "They are really hurt by all the public revelations, the confessions in the memoir, the interviews, and the criticisms about their roles. They see these as broken trusts. Fixing that takes a huge amount of time, and they’re just not past that point yet."
Harry, who is 41 years old, recently got a chance to reconnect with his 76-year-old father. They hadn’t seen each other in almost two years. This reunion happened on Wednesday, September 10, during Harry’s solo trip to London. An insider shared with the same outlet that their much-anticipated meeting felt "very positive and very relaxed."
Many royal watchers hoped the Duke of Sussex would also meet up with his brother and sister-in-law during his recent visit across the pond. But alas, a source confirmed their schedules "just didn’t line up while Harry was in London."
"There hasn’t been any direct communication between their teams either, not like there was with Charles," the source continued. "William and Kate haven’t started or replied to Harry’s attempts to reach out. They truly need more time."
The big crack in Harry’s relationships with his brother and father happened in 2020. That’s when Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, decided to step back from their duties as senior members of the royal family.
After the couple made their new home in Montecito, California, Harry released his tell-all memoir, Spare. This book reportedly made his family even angrier.
"There’s an emotional distance among the three of them," a source explained about the dynamic between Harry, William, and Kate. "Old resentments from past conflicts still linger. This includes Harry’s comments about Kate in his book. That put William on the defensive. He needs more time to process everything before he’s ready for a face-to-face with Harry."
In Spare, Harry actually spoke kindly of Kate. He described her as "carefree, sweet [and] kind." Yet, he also shared his worry about losing William to her.
"Deep down, I couldn’t help but feel this was another goodbye under that awful roof. Another separation," Harry penned. "The brother I escorted into Westminster Abbey that morning was gone — forever."
Harry’s book also surprised many royal watchers with a detail about Kate apologizing to Meghan after an incident that left Meghan in tears.
Other stories also came to light, like the Prince and Princess of Wales being unhappy about Easter gift exchanges. There was also Kate’s hurt feelings when Meghan reportedly said she had "baby brain," and a moment when Kate "reluctantly" took out her lipstick to help Meghan.
"A little clash of styles, perhaps?" Harry wrote, as reported by Hello Magazine. "Something we should have laughed about shortly after. But it left a tiny mark."
The source mentioned that there’s still "hope" for the brothers to meet during the upcoming holiday season. However, it’s still too early to tell if that will happen.
"They’ll see how things develop based on what Charles and Harry discussed," the source explained. "One of the things that came up was that he should stay quiet and not talk to the press. And Meghan should do the same. Once William and Kate can trust again, maybe things can go back to normal for them."
The entertainment outlet reached out to the teams for both Harry and William for their thoughts on the matter.