Prince William and Prince Harry’s relationship is non-existent at the moment. The brothers have gone through a lot together, especially following the tragic passing of their mother, Princess Diana, and have always supported each other. However, now things are very different, as William and Harry aren’t even speaking following Harry and Meghan’s royal exit and everything that followed.
As the title of his book suggests, Harry always felt that he was a “spare” in the royal family, not really a person of significance compared to his older brother, who has been trained to one day ascend the throne. No one knows if the two will make amends in the future, but what is clear is that their father, King Charles, wants nothing else.
Harry wrote plenty about his childhood in Spare, but what his mother thought about his relationship with William when he was young has its grey areas. Now, newly discovered letters written by Princess Diana give us an insight into Harry and William’s relationship—and paint a sad picture of what could have been.
Prince William and Prince Harry had a great childhood. Their mother, Princess Diana, didn’t necessarily act by the royal book, but in the end, she, like William and Kate are doing today, tried to give her children as normal a childhood as possible.
Prince William & Prince Harry’s childhood
William and Harry’s relationship has not always been this strained. In fact, they have been two very loving brothers, bonded together through tragedy. When they were very young, their mother passed away, and that was an ordeal no one but them will ever truly fathom.
In 2017, on the 20th anniversary of Diana’s passing, the two brothers got together and talked about their mother.
Their discussion can only be summed up in one word: Love.
“When everybody says ‘she was funny, give us an example’. All I can hear is her laugh,” Harry explained.
“She was one of the naughtiest parents, she’d come and watch us play football and smuggle sweets into her socks, literally walking back from a football match and having five packages of [candy]. And just, the whole shirt was full with sweets.”
“We felt incredibly loved by her, and I’m very grateful that the love still feels there,” William said. “It feels like a good time to remember her and hopefully provide a different side.”
“It was that love, even though she was on the other side of the room, as her son you could feel it,” Harry added.
Growing up within the royal family must be an extraordinary thing. Sure, there will never be a shortage of money, but at the same time, it’s a life about duties and responsibilities.
Newly discovered Diana letter gives insight into Prince William & Prince Harry’s relationship
It is hard to tell just how much of a ‘normal’ childhood William and Harry had with their mother. An old letter Princess Diana wrote recently surfaced, giving a beautiful glimpse of William and Harry’s childhood. Not only that but also the very special childhood bond between the two.
The letter from Diana was written in March of 1985, just six months after the birth of her youngest son, Harry.
She wrote: “William adores his little brother and spends the entire time pouring an endless supply of hugs and kisses over Harry,” as reported by GB News.
In other letters, Princess Diana revealed how a then-older Prince Harry was “constantly in trouble” at school. Further, she also wrote about the joy of being a mother, as well as describing the “difficult period” in her life that was to follow.
Princess Diana often took William and Harry to theme parks and other fun venues. But she also knew what royal life entailed, including the fact that they had meals served at all times.
She knew the importance of William and Harry being just like any other child, even though they were royals. With this in mind, she would sneak them out of the palace on occasion to get fast food.
“I remember the princess came into the kitchen one day and said, ‘Cancel lunch for the boys, I’m taking them out, we’re going to McDonald’s,” Diana’s former personal chef Darren McGrady told Marie Claire.
“And I said, ‘Oh my God – your Royal Highness, I can do that, I can do burgers.’ And she said, ‘No, it’s the toy they want.’”
Prince Harry recalled moment he found out about Diana’s death
Princess Diana tragically passed away in August of 1997 following a car accident in Paris. Her passing was a shock to an entire nation, and her sons, William and Harry, were left without a mother.
Millions mourned the princess, but of course, as is always the case, her family bore the deepest wounds.
Harry recalled when he got word of his mother’s passing in his book, Spare. He described how his father sat beside his bed, telling him: “Darling boy, Mummy’s been in a car crash.
“There were complications. Mummy was quite badly injured and taken to hospital, darling boy,” Harry recalled his father saying. “He always called me ‘darling boy,’ but he was saying it quite a lot now. His voice was soft. He was in shock, it seemed.
“With a head injury. They tried, darling boy. I’m afraid she didn’t make it.”
The prince further claimed that Charles put his hand on his knee, saying: “It’s going to be OK,” but that he “didn’t hug” him.
“Everyone knows where they were and what they were doing the night my mother died,” Harry stated.
“I cried once, at the burial, and you know I go into detail about how strange it was and how actually there was some guilt that I felt and I think William felt as well, by walking around the outside of Kensington Palace.”
“I don’t think any child should be asked to do that”
“There were 50,000 bouquets of flowers to our mother and there we were shaking people’s hands, smiling,” he continued. “I’ve seen the videos, right, I looked back over it all. And the wet hands that we were shaking, we couldn’t understand why their hands were wet, but it was all the tears that they were wiping away.”
Harry and William walked behind Diana’s coffin as the procession reached Westminster Abbey. Later, Harry slammed the decision that the two young boys – 12 and 15, respectively – had to walk through London with the world watching.
“My mother had just died, and I had to walk a long way behind her coffin, surrounded by thousands of people watching me while millions more did on television,” he told Newsweek in 2017. “I don’t think any child should be asked to do that, under any circumstances. I don’t think it would happen today.”
The Pont de I’Alma tunnel, where Diana’s car crashed, became somewhat of a tourist attraction, as well as a place for fans to mourn and remember her. In 2007, Harry decided to visit the tunnel and drive the route his mother had taken that night in 1997.
The Duke had been invited to Paris to attend the Ruby World Cup semi-final, and on his first night in the French capital, he asked the driver to take him to the tunnel.
Harry concluded: “I’d always imagined the tunnel as some treacherous passageway, inherently dangerous, but it was just a short, simple, no-frills tunnel.”
Prince William and Prince Harry no longer have a mother, and if Diana were still here, perhaps their feud would not be as bad as it is.
Prince Harry revealed physical confrontation with his brother in ‘Spare’
The fact that Harry and his wife Meghan Markle left the royals didn’t go well with William. However, the feud between the royals and the Sussexes peaked when Harry released his book, Spare.
Harry lashed out at almost every senior royal family member, even giving detailed insight into one of the biggest fights of his life—with William.
It happened in 2019 at his London home, where Harry wrote that he and William had a physical confrontation. The Duke claimed William had called his wife, Meghan, “abrasive,” “rude,” and “difficult,” something Harry called “parrot the press narrative.”
It escalated, and Harry described how William “grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and … knocked me to the floor.”
“He set down the water, called me another name, then came at me. It all happened so fast. So very fast. He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. I landed on the dog’s bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me. I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out,” Harry wrote.
The Duke then described how William urged him to hit back, describing their fights as children. When Harry refused, the future king left before returning later “looking regretful, and apologized.” Harry said he sustained visible injuries on his back. It remains to be seen whether Harry and William will make amends in the future. But for now, it’s clear that the “Battle of the Brothers” is still very much active.
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