Prince Harry Said ‘Goodbye’ to ‘Willy’ When Prince William Married Kate Middleton
TL;DR:
- Prince Harry said Prince William marrying Kate Middleton felt like “yet another farewell” in his Spare memoir.
- “The brother I’d escorted into Westminster Abbey that morning was gone—forever,” he wrote in Spare.
- Prince Harry also revealed he and Prince William weren’t each other’s first choice for best man at their respective royal weddings.
The 2011 royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton stirred up some feelings for Prince Harry. And not all of them happy or joyful. In his memoir, Spare, the Duke of Sussex recalled how his brother’s wedding day felt like “yet another farewell.” Not only that, but the 38-year-old also revealed what went through his mind immediately after the now-Prince and Princess of Wales became husband and wife.
Prince Harry thought Prince William would ‘never again be first and foremost Willy’ when he married Kate Middleton
In addition to making serious allegations against William in Spare, Harry also revisits some major moments in his older brother’s life. Specifically, April 29, 2011, the day William, now 40, married Kate.
Harry remembered it had felt like “yet another farewell” in his memoir (via Marie Claire). “The brother I’d escorted into Westminster Abbey that morning was gone—forever,” he wrote.
“Who could deny it? He’d never again be first and foremost Willy,” Harry continued, referring to his nickname for William. “We’d never again ride together across the Lesotho countryside with capes blowing behind us. We’d never again share a horsey-smelling cottage while learning to fly. Who shall separate us? Life, that’s who.”
Prince Harry thought ‘goodbye’ as William and Kate left Westminster Abbey
Walking up the aisle together after exchanging vows marked a memorable moment at William and Kate’s royal wedding. They exited Westminster Abbey in front of some 2,000 guests — and millions more watching at home — as husband and wife.
For Harry, it was a bittersweet moment. Harry said a silent goodbye to his older brother as he entered a new chapter in his life.
“I recall Willy walking her [Kate] back up the aisle,” he wrote in Spare. “And as they disappeared through the door, into the carriage that would convey them to Buckingham Palace, into the eternal partnership they’d pledged, I recall thinking: Goodbye.”
William and Kate will have been married 12 years on their wedding anniversary, April 29.
Harry revealed in ‘Spare’ he and William weren’t each other’s best man at their respective royal weddings
First in a brief chapter on William and Kate’s wedding and again when recalling his own wedding, Harry mentions not being William’s best man. Harry explains in his memoir that his older brother made two of his friends best men before the palace later claimed — in a ‘bare-faced lie’ — Harry had been given the duties.
Later, Harry recalls how William “canceled last minute” on drinks with him and his friends on the eve of his 2018 wedding to Meghan Markle.
“I asked myself what was really going on,” Harry remembered thinking when William supposedly canceled (via Harper’s Bazaar). “Was he feeling bad about not being my best man? Was he upset that I’d asked my old mate Charlie?”
“The Palace put out the story that Willy was the best man, as they’d done with me when he and Kate married,” Harry added in parenthesis. “Could that be part of it?” he concluded.
