Royal Expert Claims the Way Prince William ‘Felt So Protective’ of Prince Harry ‘Robbed Him of His Youth’
Prince Harry admitted in 2019 that his relationship with Prince William hit a bumpy patch when he confirmed that rumors of a feud between them were true. One royal biographer believes that Prince William harbored some jealousy of his brother and that protecting his sibling as a child “robbed him of his youth.”
Prince Harry confirmed the feud rumors were true
In an interview for the 2019 documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, Prince Harry was asked if the rumors about a rift between him and Prince William were true and he confirmed there was friction between them.
“Part of this role and part of this job and this family being under the pressure that it’s under … inevitably, you know, stuff happens,” Prince Harry said at the time.
“But, look, we’re brothers. We’ll always be brothers,” he added. “We’re certainly on different paths at the moment but I will always be there for him and, as I know, he will always be there for me.”
Their lives had gone in different directions and each brother was busy with their own personal lives, but Prince Harry assured that he loved his brother “dearly,” adding, “But as brothers, you have good days and you have bad days.”
Prince William and Prince Harry’s roles defined them
Robert Lacey, author of the book Battle of Brothers: William and Harry — The Inside Story of a Family in Tumult, shed some light on Prince William and Prince Harry’s relationship in an interview with ET. Part of their falling out, Lacey believes, can be traced back to their childhood.
“One of the objectives of the book is to go back into the past of these two boys, into their childhoods, to see the way in which their lives were shaped, cruelly really, by the breakdown of their parents’ marriage and by the royal roles and distortion that was placed upon them,” Lacey explained to ET. “You know, I describe how when they were born, it was William who was the rambunctious character and it was Harry who was the good little boy who sucked his thumb.”
He continued, “Then William discovers that he’s going to be king, he becomes much more serious and quiet between the age of six or seven. Harry goes the other way.”
Prince William was protective of Prince Harry
Lacey further shared how Prince William had an endearing quality of protecting Prince Harry but, in doing so, the biographer believes he was “robbed of his youth.”
“William always felt so protective towards his younger brother,” Lacey explained. “This is a very appealing side of William. He’d had the same impulse towards his mother as things got bad for her. His was the shoulder that she cried on.”
He continued, “But there’s a sense also of course that this robbed him of his youth and I think the responsibility he had for Harry also robbed him of the, you know, carefree nature of his childhood.”
Prince William’s childhood experience, according to Lacey, informed a huge parenting decision for William’s son George. “That is why we are told he — until last year — he certainly hadn’t told his own son, Prince George, that he was going to be king one day,” the author noted. “William felt that that was something that’d been a burden too much for him as a child and he didn’t want that for his own son.”
