Prince Harry’s relationship with Prince William has been the focus of speculation and reporting for four decades, long before the true extent of the strained dynamic between them as “heir” and “spare” was exposed when Harry split from the monarchy and moved to the U.S. in 2020.
When the prince left Britain with Meghan Markle, he opened up about his experiences and grievances with royal life and some family members in interviews, documentary appearances and in his best-selling memoir.
Though tabloid and social media focus has turned toward the feuding aspect of their relationship, Harry has repeatedly caveated public discussions about his brother with the point that he maintains a “love” for him, and one day hopes for a reconciliation but one with a degree of accountability on both ends.
Here, as Prince Harry prepares to celebrate his 40th birthday in September, Newsweek looks at what he has said about his hopes for future reconciliation with Prince William.
‘Time Heals All Things…Hopefully’
After splitting from the royal family in 2020, Harry gave his first major joint interview with Meghan Markle to TV veteran, Oprah Winfrey.
Newsletter
The interview contained a number of bombshells from Meghan revealing that Princess Kate had made her cry before her wedding, to Harry’s claim that he had been cut off by King Charles.
When asked about his brother, Harry detailed the strained state of his family relationships but reiterated the love he holds for them and spoke hopefully of the future.
“The relationship is space at the moment,” he told Winfrey of William. ” And, you know, time heals all things…hopefully.”
‘My Brother’
In 2023, Harry published his memoir, Spare. This provided a raw account of his relationship with William, including the revelation that the brothers had never been as close as the public had been led to believe.
Harry detailed a number of grievances against William, including an account of an alleged physical attack launched by his brother at Kensington Palace in 2019 in an argument over Meghan Markle’s treatment of royal staff.
The prince gave a number of interviews to promote his book, and when questioned on whether his frank account could prove hurtful to his family members and William, he maintained that this was never his intention.
Speaking to 60 Minutes’ Anderson Cooper, Harry said he looked forward to a day where he could regain a closeness with his family but that the tabloid press continued to prove an obstacle to this.
“Without the British press as part of this, we would probably still be a fairly dysfunctional family, like, a lot are,” he said. “But at the heart of it, there is a family, without question. And I really look forward to having that family element back. I look forward to having a relationship with my brother. I look forward to having a relationship with my father and other members of my family.”
‘Reconciliation’ but With ‘Accountability’
Speaking to British TV anchor Tom Bradby about Spare, Harry discussed the possibility of a reconciliation with his brother and father.
“Forgiveness is 100 percent a possibility because I would like to get my father back. I would like to have my brother back,” he said. “At the moment, I don’t recognize them, as much as they probably don’t recognize me.”
He went on to add that any reunion would have to come with an acceptance of his family’s accountability for the issues faced by Meghan and him, which in part caused them to leave Britain and the monarchy.
“Though I would like to have reconciliation, I would like accountability, I’ve managed to make peace over this time with a lot of things that have happened,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean that I’m just gonna let it go. You know, I’ve made peace with it, but I still would like reconciliation. And not only would that be wonderful for us, but it would be fantastic for them as well.”
Diana
In a Good Morning America interview in January 2023, Harry was asked poignantly about his mother, Princess Diana, and how he thinks she might view the state of his relationship with William.
“I think she would be sad,” he said, but adding: “I think she’d be looking at looking at it long term to know that there are certain things that we need to go through to be able to heal the relationship. [But] I think she would be heartbroken that has ended up where it’s ended up.”
Prince William has, so far, not responded publicly to the claims made about him by Harry.
The last time the brothers attended the same event was in May 2023, where both were present in Westminster Abbey as King Charles III was crowned in the historic coronation ceremony. At the time, news coverage noted that the princes did not appear to interact.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek‘s royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek‘s The Royals Facebook page.
