During a public appearance, William however defended the royals. When asked by a reporter if The Firm was racist, the Prince of Wales replied: “We’re very much not a racist family.”
At the appearance William said he had not yet raised the issue with his younger brother but intended to do so. Now Daily Mirror Associate Editor Kevin Maguire has said William’s response showed his true feelings towards his in-laws at the time.
Speaking on Channel 5’s Royal Heirs and Spares: Rivalry & Resentment, he said: “That moment when William said the Royal Family isn’t racist, that revealed molten anger.”
He added: “He also appreciated the harm and the damage that the accusation had made for that family. That was absolutely extraordinary, those few words, that little response, told us a huge amount.”
The relationship between William and Harry is said to have become fractured over the years. In his memoir Spare, Harry even accused his brother of physically attacking him during a row in 2019.
Harry wrote: “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.”
William even aimed what appeared to be a thinly-veiled dig at his brother during a recent visit to the Army Air Corps in Wattisham, Suffolk. William was speaking to the troops at the families at Harry’s former regiment.
Dressed in camouflage fatigues and wearing the blue AAC beret, the prince asked one soldier if he spent enough time with his family. He then teased: “Some of them might not want to see you that much. It’s a mixed bag sometimes.”
William’s remark, made in June, came just weeks after Harry said he would “love reconciliation” with his family. “Life is precious,” the Duke of Sussex had said.
“I don’t know how much longer my father has. He won’t speak to me because of this security stuff. But it would be nice to reconcile.”
Royal Heirs and Spares: Rivalry & Resentment airs on Saturday, October 18 at 8.35pm on Channel 5