Isn’t it time for the royal feud to end? When Prince Harry arrived at a Norfolk parish church last week for the memorial service for his uncle-in-law, Robert Fellowes, many in attendance were probably praying for a reconciliation between him and Prince William.
In fact, William left Snettisham church without exchanging a single syllable with his estranged younger brother.
He seems adamant that Harry is the black sheep of the family, for whom there can be no forgiveness. This is both deeply saddening and worrying.
The longer the dispute lasts, the deeper and wider the chasm will be.
There are rumours that William has said he will not even invite his brother to his coronation, when that day dawns.
As revealed by The Mail on Sunday, Harry has begun making overtures to investigate ways to end his exile.
This would be catastrophic for countless reasons and indeed has very wide ramifications.
Many have spent years vilifying Meghan for refusing to speak to her poor, bumbling father, who made a fool of himself before her wedding by posing for paparazzi photographs.
William’s refusal to speak to his brother risks appearing equally petty. If William allows the dispute to fester, it will dominate every public event he takes part in: at family funerals, at ceremonies of national importance.
Instead of focusing the audience’s attention on the ceremony, people are understandably thinking about “The Dispute”: questioning the body language between the couple, analyzing the few (if any) words and glances exchanged.
Do we really want this? Is it not the duty of the Prince of Wales to come and forgive? Or at least behave as if he had forgiven.
It was a wise man who wrote: “I kiss my son not because I love him, but to love him.” Instead of “son” read “brother.”
There is something deeply unseemly about a family fighting in public. When it comes to the Royal Family, it poisons the atmosphere and undermines the very institution of the monarchy.
There are signs that King Charles, especially in light of his cancer, has been receiving spiritual advice from friends such as Richard Chartres, the former bishop of London, urging him to build bridges with his youngest son.
Obviously, Charles would like to meet and befriend his American grandchildren.
In his memoir 2023 Spare, Prince Harry claimed that his brother William had been violent
He shouldn’t have to feel anxious about leaving this world before making peace with his “dear boy” Harry.
For his part, as The Mail on Sunday reveals today, Harry has begun making overtures to investigate ways of ending his exile. Prince William appears to be the one standing in the way. He surely has a duty to his father – if not to his brother – to help, not obstruct, such a rapprochement.
The reasons for the breakup are obvious.
Harry wrote – or rather, dictated to a clever ghostwriter – his deeply painful memoir Spare, in which he claimed that his brother William had been violent.
Intolerable things were said about William’s wife Catherine, who is currently undergoing cancer treatment.
Harry and Meghan even told the world, via Oprah Winfrey’s show, that the Royal Family was racist – a deeply unfair insult, as the King, with initiatives such as The Prince’s Trust, has done more to unite the people of this country, regardless of colour or creed, than any public figure.
No wonder William remains aggrieved and angry.
But as our future king, he must be magnanimous, not petty. He should remember the example of the late queen, his grandmother, who put duty before personal feelings.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex undertook a quasi-royal tour of Colombia last month.
As an olive branch to his family, Harry has made it clear that there will be no sequel to Spare.
In 2012, he shook hands with former IRA commander Martin McGuinness, despite the murder of Prince Philip’s beloved uncle Lord Mountbatten by the IRA, in the name of peace and reconciliation.
William would certainly be willing to shake his brother’s hand if he offered it. And there are hopeful signs that Harry is beginning to extend his own.
As an olive branch to his furious family, he has made it clear that, to the disappointment of his publishers, there will be no sequel to Spare, nor will he update the paperback edition with more venomous commentary.
There are even signs that Harry is prepared to drop his lawsuit against the Home Office over its “inadequate” security arrangements. And both he and Meghan are hinting, through “friends” and “sources,” that they are ready to stop giving embarrassing interviews to television and newspapers. The disputes surrounding Meghan and the Royal Household seem increasingly trivial (whether or not she was throwing tantrums, or whether she was being made into a nervous wreck). She, and they, have certainly moved on.
Another hopeful sign: Harry and Meghan recently traveled to Colombia and many critics were prepared to denounce any wild statements they believed the couple would inevitably venture to make. In fact, they behaved with royal decorum and discretion.
It was then said that Meghan could embarrass the Foreign Office and the Royal Family if she attended the Democratic Convention in Chicago, but she did not go.
Instead, she has hinted that she will limit her public appearances in the future to promoting the work of her clothing designer friends.
Is there a strategy behind Meghan’s new reticence? Why would a woman who was once so fond of political posturing suddenly go silent?
Perhaps Harry and Meghan have belatedly realized which side their bread and butter is on.
After their efforts to build a media empire failed, reducing them to little more than a few jars of Meghan’s “homemade” jam, have they now realised that without the House of Windsor, they have little social and political backing?
Is that why Harry has recently renewed contact with some of his UK-based friends via WhatsApp?
His 40th birthday celebrations in two weeks would be an ideal opportunity to rebuild bridges with lost allies.
Let’s hope that happens.
Both Harry and his brother are stubborn, but the longer the estrangement continues, the more it seems William is the one holding the most grudge.
Someone needs to step in to help him change his mind.
Perhaps a younger member of the Royal Family – one of Princess Anne’s sons; perhaps one of his friends; perhaps his wife – or perhaps all of them should implore him to change his mind.
Whoever dares to confront William about this should surely be brave enough to ask: ‘What do you think your mother would want?’
Both princes will recall a childhood filled with book deals and television interviews in which their parents aired their grievances. They surely do not want their ugly feud in front of the world to consume their families any longer.
We all have an interest in William getting Harry back.