Prince William Was Worried 'The Wheels Were Going To Fall Off With Harry'
Prince Harry and Prince William's relationship never found its footing again after Harry stepped down as a senior royal in 2020. Once inseparable, the brothers are now no longer in touch following the headline-making exit. According to royal expert Tina Brown, William had allegedly sensed early on just how serious the fallout could become after Harry and Meghan Markle announced their departure, going so far as to enlist a trusted Palace aide to manage the growing conflict of interests behind the scenes.
In her book, Palace Papers, Brown mentioned that while Harry's marriage to Markle was initially viewed as a 'victory over entrenched attitudes towards race and class', the hope for a 'harmoniously integrated' family became bleak 18 months later. She wrote that William reportedly had a foreboding of just how damaging the situation could become, as the Sussexes refused to budge. Concerned about the consequences, the then Duke of Cambridge allegedly contacted a Palace aide, asking them to help manage the aftermath of the separation. She penned, "William apparently said to him with a worried air, 'We may need you to come back for a bit. I'm afraid the wheels are going to fall off with Harry."
Moreover, Harry and Markle allegedly believed they had fully mapped out their exit, which Brown revealed was far from true. She continued, "Like any divorce, much of the conflict came down to money and, as usual in this saga, there were hot temperaments and cold misunderstandings." Central to the problem was their proposed 'half-in, half-out' model, which reportedly "threw up multiple conflicts of interest" that seemed problematic to everyone. A big hurdle was also the difficulty of separating commercial projects from royal duties. Brown stressed, "If, say, the high-visibility couple tacked a few days of shooting a paid Netflix documentary onto the back of a Foreign Office-funded Commonwealth tour, there would be an uproar."
Another major point of contention was whether the Sussexes and their children should continue receiving taxpayer-funded protection. Brown argued that all of these challenges ultimately stemmed from a single dilemma, and it was "Whether the Sussexes were celebrity royals or royal celebrities, two very different states of being." She elaborated on the distinction, "A royal is representing the Crown and country. A celebrity is representing himself or herself...The summer of 2019 confirmed to the media that the Sussexes had made the decisive and deadly pivot to the meretricious side of the equation."
Shortly after the so-called negotiations and the fiery Sandringham summit, Harry and Markle announced that they would be splitting their time between the UK and North America. They explained their intention to become 'financially independent' while continuing to support the late Queen and maintain their commitment to the monarchy. The statement emphasized a desire for privacy and a more balanced family life, saying they planned to step back 'as senior members of the royal family' to pursue personal projects and charitable work.