Source Claims Harry And William's Feud Started Way Earlier Than We All Thought

It's no secret that the relationship between Prince William and Prince Harry is strained at the moment. The brothers were once thick as thieves, growing especially close after the death of their mother, Princess Diana. 

But tensions reportedly started when Harry got serious with Meghan Markle, and William warned him that the relationship was moving too fast. Their rift came to a head when the couple decided to step away from their royal duties in 2020 and moved to California. Soon after, Harry and Meghan gave their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey. 

Their accusation of racism against the royal family — as well as Meghan's tale of William's wife, Kate Middleton, making her cry right before her wedding — did not sit well with William. According to royal editor Roya Nikkhah, "William was 'reeling' with his 'head all over the place,' furious that his brother and sister-in-law had taken aim at his wife and his family," per Express. 

While the brothers reunited for Prince Philip's funeral and the unveiling of Diana's statue at Kensington Palace in honor of her 60th birthday, William and Harry's relationship is still fractured. But, according to one source, the problems between them actually started before Meghan entered the picture.

Although it's been assumed that Meghan Markle is the main cause of the rift between Prince William and Prince Harry, Tina Brown revealed that there were problems in their relationship years before. 

Brown, a royal expert and the author of the upcoming book, "The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor — The Truth and Turmoil," explained that, when Harry left the armed forces in 2015, he was "rattling around and not really knowing who he was," per Newsweek. She added that "he had all these interests in Africa and conservation, but so did William and Harry always had to play second banana."

While their mother, Princess Diana, always treated her sons the same, the reality was that William would one day be king, and preparing him for that role came first. 

"Gradually, that became a major tension between them," Brown said. "William had this great destiny ahead of him, he knew who he was. For Harry, it's like, 'Who am I going to be — Uncle Andrew? Am I really going there?'"

The rift only widened after Harry married Meghan and stepped away from his royal duties. 

And, according to Brown, it doesn't look like the brothers will be making up anytime soon, especially with Harry writing a memoir. "William was disgusted about Meghan's attack on Kate because she can't answer back," Brown said. "But that's nothing compared to how furious he's going to be when this book comes out."