Prince William 'Frustrated' With Harry 'Worming His Way Back,' Says Insider: ‘It Sickens Him’
The fractured family dynamics inside the House of Windsor appear to have reached a new tipping point. While King Charles’s recent meeting with Prince Harry has been dubbed a small step toward healing, behind the Palace walls, it has reportedly triggered a furious response from Prince William.
The Cosmopolitan reported, quoting a source, that the Prince of Wales feels blindsided by his father’s willingness to extend an olive branch. “It sickens him [William] that Harry has wormed his way back to his father’s affections,” the insider claimed. “To him, it’s just wrong on every level and utterly ridiculous. The fact his brother’s now got this direct line back to the family despite all the pain and misery he’s inflicted — he’s totally bewildered and frustrated that it’s being sanctioned.”
For William, it appears as if the issue is deeper than just feelings. He has not been able to trust Harry and is convinced that he has not shown any genuine remorse or change of heart. The source continued, “William doesn’t believe there’s evidence Harry’s changed. He’s convinced this groveling effort is part of an overall plot for the Sussexes to hold onto their precious HRH titles and try to salvage what they can from the monarchy whilst his father’s still alive to be manipulated.”
That skepticism reportedly sets him at odds with both his father and his wife, Kate Middleton. The same insider suggested that Charles and Middleton have urged William to soften, but without success. “Both the King and Kate have been urging him to show mercy and give peace a chance,” the source mentioned, but he’s simply not having it. Until Harry shows he’s changed over a long period of time, he’s simply not interested. And nobody even dares get him started on Meghan.”
However, for Charles, it is his parental longing that is pushing him to rekindle his relationship with his youngest, said author Tina Brown, in a New York Times op-ed titled The Quiet Triumph of King Charles III. She argued, "It was also the fulfillment of paternal longing. It’s no secret that Charles desperately misses his prodigal son who, in earlier days, was always the fun, ebullient scamp compared with the haughtier, more Hanoverian William.”
But William is obstinate, and Harry’s continued prominence, especially the massive publicity he got while back in the UK recently, has not sat well. Harry, after his UK visit, is seen as a 'great loss to the royal family.' GB News noted that Harry’s energy and charisma stood out, rekindling a sense of what the monarchy lost when he and Markle stepped away. But for William, the same trip appears to have ripped open old wounds. An insider told the Daily Mail, “William is back at the point where if you mention Prince Harry in his presence, he would throw you out of the room. He’s doubling down.”
William reportedly sees it as Harry "pulling off a 12-month master plan to re-ingratiate himself" with both the public and the monarchy. For William, who has tried to put distance between himself and his brother’s controversies, the idea that Harry could be successfully rehabilitating his image feels like a direct threat.