Just a few years ago, reading something like this was unthinkable.
They were two brothers who couldn’t have looked closer.
We love seeing them together and we all love the lighthearted banter between them like the moment I asked How Prince William Became Prince Harry’s Best Man“Vengeance is sweet, Rhiannon, revenge is sweet,” he answered before his brother.
This bond was cemented by their shared experience of losing their mother and has recently flourished with their proud mental health work.
All families and siblings have their differences, but from leaked excerpts from Harry’s new book, it appears that the differences between him and William are deeper and more painful than we thought, and ultimately irreconcilable.
With Harry’s apparent willingness to speak out about the rift so openly, it ignited any suggestion that an olive branch was extended and accepted around the time of the Queen’s death.
‘Revenge is sweet’: Willing to be best man
Kensington Palace has not commented, but I doubt William will fly into a rage. Mainly on a personal level, it will hurt, but what it will mean for his public image and whether it will distort perceptions of him as he struggles to shape his new status as direct heir to the throne.
In Britain, Welsh are by far more popular than Sussexes, but such accusations from across the Atlantic will not be welcomed.
There will be more this week.
Harry gave two prime-time television interviews on Sunday night, and the book hit stores on Tuesday. But what continues to amaze me is how far Harry decides to go.
‘There’s a lot to talk about,’ says Prince Harry
A man with a visceral hatred of the media and clickbait culture, yet in the past few months he has given the media the front page of dozens of soap opera-style quotes and allegations.
I know it’s all part of his effort to get his stand recognized and accepted by the media, but when it comes to his relationship with his family, you can’t help but think there must be a better way.
I’ll never forget talking to one of Prince Harry’s team when we visited Nepal in 2016. I asked where Harry would fit in when William one day becomes king.
Staff close to Harry at the time were well aware that Harry would be William’s “wingman”.
While he wants to carve out his own role, he is happy to support his brother in the future, doing things William can no longer do as king.
This is unimaginable now.
Time may be the healer, but it’s hard to know how the two brothers recover from this, how to rebuild trust when one wants to share that rift very openly with the world.