Once a driver for Princess Diana herself, royal insider Ken Wharfe has detailed the way young William and Harry would quibble, particularly regarding their respective claims to the throne.
Recalling a particular car ride when the brothers were children, Ken admitted that Harry teased William, stating, “It’s alright, I can do anything because I won’t be King. You will be, therefore I can do what I want”.
Ken describes an alleged gleeful response from the eldest boy, who apparently relished in his younger brother’s acknowledgement of his claim to the throne.
And any of Harry’s feelings of resentment towards his brother’s destiny to be King would have only grown with the birth of his nephews and niece, Prince George (7), Princess Charlotte (7) and Prince Louis (2), pushing the Duke of Sussex even further down the line of succession.
Even if Harry was willing to forgive his brother’s claim to the throne, William’s public disapproval of his decisions have sealed the nail in the coffin.
In early 2019, after royal reporter Katie Nicholl revealed that Harry had taken offence to William’s plea to “slow down” when it came to Meghan Markle, it became clear that what started out as a brotherly rivalry had stemmed into much more.
“I think what was meant as well-intended brotherly advice just riled Harry” Katie revealed in the documentary, Kate v. Meghan: Princesses at War?
Ever since then, reports of an unstoppable feud between the two brothers have been relentless, heightened largely by Prince Harry’s comments to ITV in late 2019.
Speaking about William, the younger brother confessed, “we’re certainly on different paths at the moment” during the documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey.
“We don’t see each other as much as we used to because we’re so busy.”
And with Harry and Meghan stepping down from their royal duties in March of this year and moving across the pond, time for brotherly bonding will be even more limited.