Here a low down on the behind-the-scenes of the royal brothers-The Duke of Cambridge and Duke of Sussex.Since the announcement of their exit from the royal family, the Queen has expressed her feeling in subtle ways on the huge decision her grandson was making but so far, the royal brothers have managed curved lips and stiff expressions as they go along with their duties as if nothing has changed between them.
At the Commonwealth service held at Westminster Abbey, the brothers managed a stiff hello as they greeted for the first time since after the crisis meeting which was hosted by the
Queen. Prince William could have managed a little warmth which could have hidden any lingering confusion over how just Harry and his brother William were getting on.
Footage from the service exposed their awkward greeting where Harry offered his brother a tight-lipped smile. Those close to the brothers say things between them are worse than ever as William is said to feel insulted by his brother’s recent comments, including the stream of remarks on Harry and Meghan’s Sussex Royal website, which many have taken as implied criticisms of the Royal Family. William feels his brother has ‘disrespected’ the institution of the monarchy, most of all their grandmother the Queen.
Royal fans may have insinuated on the surface that Meghan’s ambitious and outspoken personality has driven introverted Harry into making that tough decision of rolling out from the palace whereas, it is said that the Duke had felt cut off after his Army career was brought to an abrupt end. Princess Diana’s second son had a fulfilling time in the Army and made it no secret that he struggled to adapt to civilian life after leaving in 2015.
Palace aides had hoped that January’s Sandringham summit – the crisis meeting about Harry’s future staged at the Queen’s Norfolk estate – had cleared the air between them. But any hopes of a reconciliation have died or seems far fetched.
Harry is said to believe that his wife was not welcomed adequately, especially because
when he wanted to marry Meghan, William decided to remind his younger brother of their mother’s advice not to marry in haste, saying: ‘You haven’t known her very long. Are you sure you’re doing the right thing?’ William asked.
Then when Meghan showed up in the family, the couple first shared space at the Kensingnton palace, sharing staff too but with Meghan’s many ideas for projects, Palace aides, who were not used to this new way of operating, with early-morning emails and a non-stop stream of suggestions and requests things started shifting.
One aide described it as a ‘different type of work culture that no one was prepared for’.
At the birth of his son Archie, Harry felt his baby was abandoned by The Firm, more so, his work was only a support to the his brother’s charitable foundation, so the Sussexes moved out to Frogmore Cottage at Windsor.
Royal fans began to get good wind of the tough details that went on behind the scenes when Harry and Meghan gave an interview to ITN’s Tom Bradby during their South African tour last October.
Prince Harry made a confession of how hurting the death of his mother had been to him, referring to it as a ‘wound that festers’ while still adding this about his brother: ‘We don’t see as much of each other as we used to because we are so busy but I love him dearly and the majority of stuff is created out of nothing.
‘As brothers, you have good days, you have bad days.’
‘It didn’t help that William never let Harry forget which of them was going to be King.’ – a royal source had mentioned.
The last straw was his father’s approval for William’s interest in the Duchy while he managed to find a role in the family that placed him on the forefront and not as a supporting aide. His father’s words might have stung him hard as the Prince of Wales told documentary makers last autumn that he was ‘touched’ that William had taken such an interest in the Duchy. ‘When I saw it, I couldn’t believe it,’ Charles said in the ITV documentary to mark five decades of work as the Duke of Cornwall.
‘I was deeply touched and moved by what he said. It practically reduced me to tears because I suddenly thought, “Well, just hearing that from him has made the last 50 years worthwhile.” ‘
His grandmother had also showed him his place in the family when during her 2019 Christmas message, had no photograph of the Sussexes on the table and months later a photo release of her three direct heirs: the Prince of Wales, Duke of Cambridge and Prince George.
