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As Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attempted to approach royal life their way, one of the main things royal fans and experts began to see was the divide between the Duke of Sussex and his brother, Prince William. The royal brothers have been two peas in a pod. However, in recent years, those easy laughs that often passed between the pair weren’t as frequent.

There was a ton of speculation about the alleged tension between them. However, none of that was confirmed until October 2019, when Prince Harry got candid about not exactly seeing eye-to-eye with his brother. “Part of this role and part of this job and this family being under the pressure that it’s under, stuff happens, but we’re brothers,” Prince Harry said in ITV’s Harry and Meghan: An African Journey. “We’ll always be brothers. We’re certainly on different paths at the moment, but I’ll always be there for him and as I know he’ll always be there for me.”

Though many people have tried to claim that the Duchess of Sussex was the main reason for the brothers’ divide, it appears more likely that Prince Harry and Prince William’s different views of the media might have led to the fracture in their relationship.

The Sussexes and the Cambridges approached royal life very differently

While Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge have adopted the British stiff upper lip approach to royal life which calls for them to ignore rumors and tabloids, no matter how salacious they may be, the Sussexes tried to clap back.

From sending letters to filing lawsuits, Prince Harry and Meghan wanted the media to treat them fairly. Unfortunately, that didn’t exactly pay off for the pair.

“For most, all of my life, I’ve always been part of a family and part of a country that is scared of the tabloid media because they have so much power and influence and no morals (laughs),” Prince Harry explained in a January 2020 speech. “From the moment that I found a wife that was strong enough to be able to stand up for what we believe in together, has basically scared them so much that they’ve now come out incredibly angry, they’ve come out fighting, and all they will try and do now is try and destroy our reputation and try and, you know, sink us. But what they don’t understand is the battle we are fighting against them is far more than just us. Even though they want to make it personal they are scared because we are some of the first two people willing to stand up to their bullying and my wife, we can’t stand back. It hasn’t been very nice. It’s been horrible but we will come out of it stronger people.”

Prince William and Prince Harry view the press very differently

The princes’ began viewing the press differently after their mother, Princess Diana’s death. Prince Harry also found himself splashed across the newspapers during his teen years and early 20s.

“The really important thing I think and the real difficulty is they just have entirely different parallel narratives about a whole bunch of stuff,” ITV anchor Tom Bradby explained to Good Morning America. “One of which is about their mother’s death. Harry feels quite simply that the press killed his mother and is now in danger of trying to damage his wife. William has a more nuanced view of that. He thinks that yes, their mother did have a very hard time, but also she made a mistake in allowing the press in and he just is absolutely adamant that that shouldn’t happen and he thinks that sometimes his brother is too open and then tries to close up, and that doesn’t work.”

Prince Hary and Prince William are in a better space now

As the brothers grew up, many royal experts envisioned Prince William on the throne with Prince Harry at his side. We now know that the younger prince is looking to forge a path for himself outside of the British royal family. Though the Sussexes’ move to Los Angeles came as a shock to many, it does appear that the brothers are in a much better space now.

“Meghan told her inner circle of friends that Harry has been communicating with Prince William and the Queen on a pretty consistent basis,” an insider told Daily Mail. “She said this world crisis has actually brought them all closer together, especially Harry and his brother. Harry has made it very clear to them that he will do whatever he can to help from Canada. Meghan said they are grateful, especially Harry, that they could spend time with his family before all this insanity began.”

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