What Prince Harry's Relationship With William Is Like Today

While the two little princes, Wills and Harry, couldn't have been closer growing up, especially with the shared tragedy of their mom's untimely death, there's always bound to be a little awkwardness when one sibling is destined one day to be the ruling monarch of the entire nation, while the other one ... isn't. Add in the issues that can occur in any family when one spouse or partner really doesn't get along too well with the rest of the clan, and you have the recipe for a rupture right there. According to a 2018 article in Elle Australia, the two brothers have been "feuding" ever since Harry first introduced Meghan to the family. Evidently, William was a bit suspicious as to Meghan's true motives, suspecting she had an agenda that extended beyond true love alone, but Harry was enraged at this line of questioning and accused his brother of trying to ruin his relationship.

Well, needless to say, the brothers never really did manage to smooth things over and sort out their differences, as witness the fact that, post-Megxit, Harry and his bride are now living on the other side of the world. Not to mention the whole publicly speaking out and dissing the royal family on TV thing. While Harry and Meghan had plenty to say in their interview with Oprah about the royal family as institution (none of it nice), Harry, at least, did try to separate out his personal feelings about his brother (and father) as family.

While Harry described life in and around Buckingham Palace as a "toxic environment," and also expressed sorrow that none of his family members back in Britain had ever apologized for the events that led up to Brexit, a clip tweeted by CBS This Morning (and also reported by People) showed Harry declaring that he would "always be there" for bis brother and for his family. He did say that he was "very aware ... [that] my brother can't leave that system," the system being the monarchy and all it entails, but when Oprah asked him if William even wanted to leave, he admitted "I don't know — I can't speak for him."

Harry did say, however (via Page Six) that he had tried to help both his brother and his father, Prince Charles, "see what has happened." What he never got around to articulating, though, was just what he expected either man to do with such revelations.

Prince William, as befits a future king, is staying tight-lipped about his brother and sister-in-law. While he's avoided speaking publicly on the topic, Fox News reports that he was shocked at what he considered to be the couple's disrespectful response toward losing their royal patronages. He was also very upset that the couple planned to go ahead with the Oprah interview at a time when Prince Philip was in poor health.

Rather than using his words, William's speaking out with his actions. He played a prominent role in a TV special showing the royal family celebrating the UK holiday, Commonwealth Day, one that not only portrayed the monarchy in a positive light, but did so, significantly, right before the Oprah special aired on British TV. Yet another response (via Fox News), one which could have far-reaching consequences, involves him opening an investigation into claims by palace staffers that they'd been severely bullied by Meghan Markle.

Well. That could turn ugly pretty quickly. No matter what happens, though, it's to be hoped that Harry remembers his own words spoken to Oprah on the subject of his brother: "I love William to bits ... the relationship is space, at the moment. And, you know, time heals all things, hopefully" (via Fox News). Yes, hopefully. No matter how bleak things look at present, both princes only have but the one sibling, and it would be a real shame for the rift to grow any wider.