The Real Reason Prince William Is Worried About Talking To Prince Harry

It may be a while before we see Prince William and Harry together again, because even though reports say the brothers appear to be communicating, there are no signs that the rift between the two is any closer to being healed. In fact, Vanity Fair's resident royal expert Katie Nicholl quotes a source as saying: "There's a lack of trust on both sides which makes moving forward very hard. William is now worried that anything he says to his brother will be plastered over American TV."

William's fears aren't exactly unfounded. A week after Harry and Meghan's bombshell-filled interview, CBS This Morning's Gayle King said she had spoken to the couple, and confirmed that Harry had spoken to his brother and father. "The word I was given was that those conversations were not productive. But they are glad that they have at least started a conversation," King said. She added that the couple were still upset that the palace appears to want to work it out privately, but "they believe, these false stories are coming out that are very disparaging against Meghan still" (via Harper's Bazaar). 

King also said that no member of the British Royal Family had reached out to Meghan, and that it was frustrating for the California-based Sussexes, because all they had wanted was for the family to ask the British tabloid press to stop reporting stories with a racial slant. 

Buckingham Palace has not officially said anything about Harry and Meghan since Queen Elizabeth II's terse statement last week — but there is a reason for that. As one friend of the British royals tells Vanity Fair, "The family is focused on the Duke of Edinburgh and as far as they are concerned his health is paramount." 

There may also be some disappointment in Harry and Meghan because the source added that "It seems the Sussexes seem to want to keep fueling this story at a time when the royals are trying to protect Prince Philip from the headlines. It's a very strange way to go about trying to heal a family rift."

The couple have said that they were aware that Harry's grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh's health was precarious, and that they were planning to delay the interview if his condition had worsened. "Just so you know, they had done that interview before Prince Philip went into the hospital, and if something, God forbid, had happened to him, the interview would not have run at this particular time," King said during her Sirius XM show (via USA Today). 

Oprah's sit-down interview with Harry and Meghan Markle gave the couple ample opportunity to come forward with several bombshells. Meghan claimed she and Harry had gotten married three days before their church ceremony at Windsor Castle — a claim which was later questioned by a Church of England Vicar. She also revealed that she didn't make Kate Middleton cry, because in fact, it was the other way around (via People). 

Meghan also said that she felt she had been silenced because the Royal Family didn't protect her from the negativity she felt she had received from the press, and that she had had suicidal thoughts during what were described as her darkest days. "I was ashamed to say it at the time and ashamed to have to admit it to Harry. But I knew that if I didn't say it — then I would do it," she said. "I just didn't want to be alive anymore," Meghan had told Oprah.

But perhaps the biggest bombshell of them all were the "conversations about Archie's skin color" among members of the Royal Family — although Harry later told Oprah that the chatter neither came from the Queen nor Prince Philip.

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness Helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

The interview might have won supporters for Harry and Meghan in their new home, but the opposite was true for those polled in the United Kingdom. A poll conducted by YouGov shows that while 45 percent of Britons view Harry in a positive light, 48 percent have a negative view of him. The rankings are even worse for Meghan, because only 31 percent view her positively, and 58 percent view her negatively. But public perception of the royal couple is also down to generational lines — 18 to 24 year olds like them, but most older people don't. 

The poll, whose results were announced on March 12, also reveals that the public continue to support the Queen, as they do Prince William and Kate Middleton, but public opinion has shifted against Prince Charles — 42 percent say they're not too fond of him, and the percentage of those that do has dropped from 57 to 49 percent.