Prince Harry Jokes About ‘Challenging’ Siblings as Tension With William Shadows UK Visit
Tension between Prince Harry and Prince William began cropping up long before the Duke stepped down as a senior royal in 2020 and packed his bags for California. Harry's bombshell interviews criticizing the royal family didn't help, only deepening the rift with William. As Harry touched down in the UK on September 8 to attend the WellChild Awards, William kept his distance, not meeting his brother. Meanwhile, Harry at the Awards joked about petty sibling quarrels and admitted it was 'challenging' attending the same school as William, a remark unlikely to sit well with his brother.
The Duke of Sussex is the patron of the WellChild Awards, a UK-based charity for seriously ill children. During the visit, Harry met with several children, including Declan Bitmead, one of the recipients of the Award. When Bitmead mentioned having a younger brother, the Duke quipped with a laugh, "Does he drive you mad? You know what, siblings." After learning that Bitmead and his brother attend the same school, he pointedly remarked, "That sometimes makes it more challenging." In his memoir, Spare, Harry had recalled that in 1998, William wanted him to keep his distance when he began his school year at Eton College.
Harry detailed how William treated him during their time at Eton. He penned, "For the last two years, he explained, Eton had been his sanctuary. No kid brother tagging along, pestering him with questions, pushing up on his social circle. He was forging his own life, and he wasn't willing to give that up." He added, "Willy always hated it when anyone made the mistake of thinking of us as a package deal… And now, to attend the same school was pure murder." In a 2023 interview with Anderson Cooper, the Duke also shared that he was told by William to act as if they were strangers. He continued, "At the time, it hurt...I was like, ‘What do you mean? We’re now at the same school.'"
As for Harry's recent UK visit, while reports speculate that he may reunite with King Charles, the Prince of Wales is allegedly far less forgiving. It is also reported that William is unhappy with Charles considering meeting Harry in the UK. A friend of the Prince told The Daily Beast, "He [William] respects his father’s rank, and he respects his father’s right to make his own decisions, and he won’t make a fuss if it happens. But he thinks a Harry meeting is a terrible, terrible idea." They added, "It’s absurd to even imagine that after what Harry said — unless there is some form of direct apology from Harry."
Any potential reunion between the feuding brothers was also squashed on September 7, when Kensington Palace confirmed that William would be booked with royal engagements during the same days Harry would be in the UK, making a meetup highly unlikely. Despite Harry and William being only 8 miles away on September 8, their jam-packed schedules did not allow them to see each other.