The Real Reason Why Prince Harry Wouldn't Speak to His Brother Before "Megxit" Revealed
A new book details what exactly transpired between the brothers.
After the death of Queen Elizabeth and the reunion of the "Fab Four," Prince Harry, Prince William, Meghan Markle, and Kate Middleton, many people were hoping that the brothers and their wives would be able to work out their differences once and for all. However, according to reports, Meghan and Harry returned home to Montecito without mending their relationship with the rest of the family. While Harry confirmed on numerous occasions he and his brother are estranged, it has never been established exactly why the two, who were once very close, stopped talking in the first place. However, a new book claims to know the reason why Prince Harry stopped talking to Prince William before Megxit.
In an extract from Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown, set to be published by Headline Books on October 6, Valentine Low details how the arrival of Meghan Markle into the world of the royals was a struggle from the start. Low maintains that Harry and his wife's demands prior to and after the royal wedding, and Meghan's treatment of the staff, put Prince William in an uncomfortable position.
Things escalated in October 2019, when ITV released a trailer for its documentary, Harry & Meghan: an African Journey. "And also, thank you for asking, because not many people have asked if I'm OK. But it's a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes," Meghan told Tom Bradby, holding back tears.
When the trailer came out William and Kate were on a tour of Pakistan and the coverage of the interview "inevitably overshadowed" reporting of the last day of the Cambridges' tour, the book says. "The Cambridge team was not happy and saw it as a deliberate attempt to knock the Cambridges out of the headlines. Relations between the two households became quite tense," Low writes.
When the full documentary came out, it became clear that William and Harry had drifted apart. "We are certainly on different paths at the moment, but I will always be there for him, as I know he will always be there for me," Harry said, when asked about the rumored rift between him and his older brother.
According to the book William was taken aback by the claims of his sister-in-law. "He realized they were in crisis," Low writes. "The day after the documentary aired, William whatsapped his brother to ask if he could come and see him. This put Harry and Meghan into a spin. What should they do? Initially, Harry was in favor. Then he spoke to his brother again and asked him who he would tell. William explained that he would have to clear his schedule, which would mean telling his private secretary. At that point, Harry said don't come. He was so concerned that William's team would leak the visit to the press that he would rather they did not come than risk it getting into the papers. It highlighted once again the dysfunction at the heart of so many royal relationships and that members of the royal family so rarely pick up the phone and speak to each other directly." Just five months later, Harry and Meghan left the UK and their roles as working royals.
