From Brothers in Arms to "Anger and Sadness": How Princes William and Harry Reportedly Went to War With Each Other
The “relationship is over."
After the release of the Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, numerous sources have come forward reporting how the royal family is responding to the show's brutal, headline-making criticism of the monarchy. The latest: Friends of Prince William, who delivered some bombshells of their own this week. Quoting those friends, the UK Times reports that William has no plans to speak with his brother and that the confessional series has deepened their rift.
"Things have been very strained for a while," one friend said. "There is sadness at where things currently are with his brother, and there's a memoir coming." Read on to find out more about the brothers' conflict—which shows no signs of abating—and how it developed, and how the royal family and Harry and Meghan plan to handle the release of Harry's tell-all book.
This week, a source close to William told the Daily Beast that the brothers' relationship is finished. "The relationship between the brothers is over and it doesn't make a great deal of difference what is in the films released this week," the source said. "The general feeling that it won't be anything they haven't said before." "The whole thing is mad," a close friend of Prince William told the Times.
William feels more sad than angry at the state of his relationship with Harry, the source told the Daily Beast. "William will never forgive Harry for selling out his and Kate's secrets. Harry knows, more than anyone, how much their privacy means to William and Kate because he felt the same. It was one of the things that drew them together."
The source added: "It's just sickening to [William] that Harry, who knows exactly how distressing it will be to him, is now selling them out to the media. William and Kate don't deserve this. It's incredibly sad."
After Harry and Meghan's bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey—in which they accused people in the royal family's close orbit of racism and a lack of attention to Meghan's mental health—Queen Elizabeth released a conciliatory statement, while noting that "recollections may vary."
This time, the Palace has not responded to the Netflix series. Regarding Harry's criticism of the monarchy, a Palace courtier told the Times, "That is Harry's decision— he's taking one decision, we're taking another." Said a friend of the royal family: "They are right to rise above it and concentrate on demonstrating that service and duty matter. Let the trivialities, pettiness, and contradictions speak for themselves."
It's unclear if the Palace's self-imposed gag order will change when Harry's memoir is released. It might be forced to. According to the UK Times, there is concern that the book titled Spare could be even more damaging than the Netflix series. The Sunday Times reported that the book, out January 10, includes claims about the monarchy that are "more incendiary than those made in the Netflix series."
If you're tired of all the royal drama, know that it may have an expiration date. A source close to the Sussexes told the Times that after Harry's book is released, the couple will "move on" from their dispute with the British royal family. Their plans? To "focus on their service work" rather than "anything personal — they're looking forward to people being interested in what they're doing beyond all the drama," the source told the Times.