According to a royal commentator, the brothers' relationship was hit after the older brother made a comment about Harry's relationship with Meghan Markle.
The relationship between Prince William and Prince Harry has been making headlines for some time now. Many people reported that their bond has taken a nosedive because of arguments and misunderstandings. The reportage about it had gotten to a point where the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex had to issue a joint statement calling those speculations false.
They viewed one of the stories written about them as "potentially harmful," as per HuffPost. In a statement, they said, "Despite clear denials, a false story ran in a UK newspaper today speculating about the relationship between The Duke of Sussex and The Duke of Cambridge. For brothers who care so deeply about the issues surrounding mental health, the use of inflammatory language in this way is offensive and potentially harmful."
However, a royal commentator, Vanity Fair's Royal Editor Katie Nicholl, made some new claims that the two siblings' relationship may have been hit after the older royal made comments about Harry's relationship with Meghan Markle. But Nicholl added that his comments may have been misconstrued by the "sensitive" younger brother, according to Express UK.
In Finding Freedom, the new unauthorized biography about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the details of the conversation that supposedly took place just before Harry proposed to Meghan have been given. Vanity Fair Royal Editor Katie Nicholl spoke to Channel 5 documentary, Meghan & Harry: The New Revelations, about why Harry may have taken his brother's comment "deeply personal".
"Don't feel you need to rush this. Take as much time as you need to get to know this girl," the book quoted William as saying. A source was quoted as saying that the Duke of Cambridge didn't want his brother to be "blindsided by lust". The book goes onto state, "Harry could see through William's words. He was being a snob."
Nicholl interprets it in another way. "I think there was a great misunderstanding in that moment. That was, I believe, intended from a genuinely good place. A place of brotherly love and just wanting Harry to be absolutely sure that he wasn't rushing into things. Especially given the speed that this relationship moved at."
She added: "Harry was clearly sensitive and I think aware of some of the sniping in the corridors of power about Meghan. He just took this deeply personally and the wrong way. I would imagine that if there was any conversation that William could take back, it would be that one."
The book claimed that the Cambridges and Sussexes barely spoke to each other since the latter announced that they were stepping away from duties as senior members of the royal family. In Finding Freedom, it was said that during the Sussexes final public engagement as royals on the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey in March, Kate barely acknowledged her sister-in-law, according to Sky News.
"Where it really went wrong for Harry and Meghan and the Cambridges was that decision to go public with the roadmap to their new working model, the statements that weren't discussed internally. That's really what caused the most amount of hurt to William because he wears two hats," said co-author of the book, Omid Scobie. "He's not just the brother. He's also a future king and he felt that that damaged the reputation of the family, that it put family business out in the public domain when it should have been discussed privately. And there was a lot of hurt there that continues to this day. It's why we saw such an awkward moment at that Commonwealth service. The brothers had not spoken since around the time of the Sandringham summit. They hadn't seen each other. And, you know, that's really going to take some time to heal," he added.
The author also said that the younger royal brother is likely to address his past mistakes someday and is currently trying to become a better person. "He's on a journey at the moment and I do think that at some point we'll hear him really talk about that journey and what he's learnt on that. But I think at the moment ... he's still educating himself. Maybe he feels he's not there yet," said Scobie.
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