Prince William Was Reportedly ‘Almost in Tears’ When Prince Harry Publicly Admitted Feud: ‘William Was Shocked,’ Expert Says
Prince William was reportedly “almost in tears” after hearing Prince Harry’s interview for the ITV documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey. According to a new book, Harry’s admission that he had a strained relationship with his brother impacted William greatly.
Prince Harry admitted rift with his brother and Prince William was ‘upset,’ according to expert
In the book Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind The Crown, author Valentine Low shared Prince William’s reaction after watching Harry’s raw interview.
When the interviewer asked Harry about his relationship with William, he responded, “We are certainly on different paths at the moment … As brothers, you know, you have good days, you have bad days.”
During the Sept. 29 episode of Palace Confidential, Mail on Sunday’s editor at large Charlotte Griffiths, Daily Mail’s diary editor Richard Eden, and Daily Mail’s royal editor Rebecca English discussed William’s reaction.
William reportedly found Harry’s interview concerning and reached out to his brother. Harry rejected the offer because he was worried that their secret meeting would be leaked to the press.
“After this was broadcast, William was very upset apparently, very astonished, really, to see the mindset, to see how … I mean, Harry had been asked about his relationship with William and he’d made a comment about ‘we’re on different paths…’ It was really stark, you know, nothing we’d heard before in public,” Eden said.
“And William was shocked. And the first thing he wanted to do is, you know, go and see his brother and talk about it,” the expert continued. “So he made contact and Harry wanted to know, ‘Who would come with you, who would need to know about you coming here’ and William had to say, ‘Well, I’d have to tell my private secretary because I have to change my arrangements for tomorrow.’ And he said, ‘Well if anyone else knows about it, don’t come.’”
Eden shared, “And that really is an insight into sort of paranoia almost, isn’t it… and just that level of distrust that there was by that point. And you can tell that they really were on their way out of the royal family by then.”
Prince William reportedly was ‘almost in tears,’ expert notes
English gave more insight into William’s reaction.. “[William] saw it the same time we all saw it,” she explained. “They weren’t given any special preview of it. And he watched it, genuinely horrified and actually really upset and really worried about his brother.”
She added, “It was put out at the time that he was angry but that wasn’t my understanding at all.”
Griffiths shared, “I heard that as well — that he was genuinely almost in tears and the whole thing has been genuinely upsetting. Because we always hear this narrative that William’s tough and angry but I’ve heard he basically cried over it.”
English added, “I think there was some revelatory aspects for William but he was actually genuinely concerned about his mental health as well. He knew his brother … they’re brothers who shared a lot together.”
Experts point out royal family relationship challenges
Eden explained the challenges of keeping up family relations. “What the book also shows is how difficult it is for the royal family to have normal family-type relationships,” he said.
“Because of this, where you have everything you do is monitored, your diary is worked out, you’ve got people you have to tell, so it’s hard just to pick up the phone or just go and meet your brother as a normal person would.”
English agreed, saying, “I think it shows you how bad the relationships were between them — they couldn’t even have one of those conversations, a quick text message and say, ‘Look, let’s just sort it out.’”
