Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Prince William, then Duke of Cambridge watch a flypast to mark the centenary of the Royal Air Force from the balcony of Buckingham Palace on July 10, 2018 in London, England

Royal family

Prince William and Prince Harry: How Diana’s Boys Went From Brothers to Enemies

Over the past five years, Prince William and Prince Harry, the sons of the late Princess Diana, have been involved in a royal rift that has escalated to a feud.

by Perry Carpenter

Published on December 31, 2022

3 min read

In 2018 royal expert Katie Nicholl dropped the bombshell that Prince William and Prince Harry weren’t getting along

After Harry married Meghan Markle in May 2018, there was a brief moment where it appeared that the royal “fab four” of William, Kate Middleton, Harry, and Meghan would represent the next generation of the British monarchy. However, rumors quickly started to swirl that there was drama between Meghan and Kate, which was initially dismissed as gossip.

But in November 2018, well-known royal reporter Katie Nicholl dropped the bombshell that it was actually William and Harry who weren’t getting along. Per Cosmopolitan, Nicholl’s sources claimed that the royal brothers had a falling out during the holiday season that year when Harry told his older brother that he wasn’t doing enough to include Meghan in the royal family.

“Harry felt William wasn’t rolling out the red carpet for Meghan and told him so. They had a bit of a fallout, which was only resolved when Charles stepped in and asked William to make an effort. That’s when the Cambridges invited the Sussexes to spend Christmas with them,” the insider dished.

How Diana’s boys went from brothers to enemies

Nicholl claims that the seeds were planted for a rift between the brothers when William questioned the speed of Prince Harry’s relationship with Meghan early on. As the recent Netflix series has shown, Harry is extremely protective of his wife. And he apparently took William’s concern as criticism.

“I think what was meant as well-intended brotherly advice just riled Harry. Harry is hugely protective of Meghan. He saw that as criticism. He interpreted that as his brother not really being behind this marriage, this union, and I don’t think things have been quite right ever since,” Nicholl said.

Emily Andrews, the royal correspondent for The Sun, claims that Harry “went ballistic” when William questioned Harry’s relationship with Meghan. And accused his brother of “trying to wreck this relationship before it’s even started.” Andrews says this was the moment when the rift turned into the Royal Feud.

Prince Harry has criticized Prince William publicly

In the months before Megxit, Harry said he loved his brother dearly. But, he admitted they were “on different paths” and weren’t speaking as much as they used to. After Harry and Meghan split from the royal family in early 2020, the way Harry talked about William started to change.

Harry told Oprah Winfrey in March 2021 that “the relationship is ‘space’ at the moment. And time heals all things, hopefully.” In the spring of 2022 — when Hoda Kotb asked Harry on Today if he missed his brother — he dodged the question.

Then, in the Netflix docuseries, Harry claimed it was “terrifying” to have his brother “scream and shout” at him during the Sandringham summit ahead of Megxit.

“It was terrifying to have my brother [Prince William] scream and shout at me, and my father say things that simply weren’t true. And my grandmother, you know, quietly sit there, and sort of take it all in,” Harry said.

He continued to say that “the saddest part of it was this wedge created between myself and my brother. So that he’s now on the institution side. And part of that I get, I understand, that’s his inheritance. So to some extent it’s already ingrained in him that part of his responsibility is the survivability and the continuation of the institution.”