Why Prince Harry ‘Crossed the Line’ With Prince William, Royal Expert Weighs In
EXCLUSIVE: By writing about Catherine in his bombshell memoir Spare, Harry may have made his relationship more difficult to repair
PRINCE Harry has ‘crossed' a huge red line with Prince William, according to an eminent royal expert.
Since stepping back as a working member of the Royal Family in 2020, the Duke of Sussex has been a prominent part of a string of highly publicised - and what many deem to be controversial - projects. This includes the global sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey on CBS, a six-part docu-series for Netflix, and of course his bombshell memoir, Spare.
In the interview with Oprah, the couple alleged that a prominent member of the Royal Family - which they did not name - speculated on the colour of Prince Archie's skin before he was born. The names were reportedly revealed in an international translation of his book, which the Royal Observer will not repeat.
In the Netflix series, Meghan was seen to parody the tradition of the curtsy in front of Her Late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. In his best-selling book, although Harry fondly called Princess Catherine the "sister I'd always wanted," he also made several other claims, including his partial blame for the Princess of Wales regarding the controversial incident where he wore the Nazi Afrika Korps uniform costume, complete with a swastika armband.
In Spare, Harry also wrote about a disagreement Catherine had with his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, over Princess Charlotte's flower girl dress at their 2018 wedding, detailing Kate's texts that all the dresses needed to be remade, which left Markle sobbing on the floor, although she later apologised. This came after he also described Catherine's walk down the aisle at her 2011 wedding as a bittersweet moment in his life because he felt like he was losing his brother to the new partnership.
Another incident occurred in 2019 when William apparently held his brother by the collar and threw him to the ground in a clash about Meghan, before the now Prince of Wales reportedly "screamed" at him during the highly-publicised Sandringham Summit that was held with Queen Elizabeth and then-Prince Charles over his plans to leave the country.
All of this has contributed to his estrangement from his brother, Prince William, as the siblings have not spoken for a number of years. Prominent expert Victoria Arbiter has suggested that Harry crossed a major line when he wrote about Catherine in his autobiography. As the daughter of Dickie Arbiter, former press secretary to Queen Elizabeth II, she spent some of her teenage years living at Kensington Palace. She also attended receptions with Princess Diana and her sons.
Speaking exclusively to the Royal Observer, Arbiter stated: "When so much of Harry and Meghan's renegade interviews and talks and revelations and everything else were going on, William and Catherine were going through an incredibly difficult battle behind the scenes. Obviously, Catherine got sick. Harry and Meghan didn't know that, but still, they were demanding privacy while printing public, private text messages."
She continued: "I think William is a big enough person that he wouldn't care what Harry said about him, but he would have cared very much what was said about his wife. He promised Catherine from the moment they got married that he would protect her and her family and make sure that nobody ever crossed a line." Adding: "Harry crossed the line in the biggest way imaginable."
The prominent commentator also weighed in on the public discourse surrounding the brothers' fallout, admitting that whilst much of the attention has been on Harry and Meghan, Prince William would feel the effects too. "I think what's most interesting in this scenario is how many people have given Harry and Meghan the grace to set boundaries and to remove themselves from toxic family situations," Arbiter remarked. Adding: "But nobody extends that same grace to William and Catherine."
