Prince William, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and Princess Kate walk at Windsor. (Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
The relationship between Prince Harry and his older brother, Prince William, has reportedly hit an all-time low. However, this feud didn’t just happen overnight.
The tension has been building for years due to numerous snubs and misunderstandings, which only grew worse. The situation escalated when the couple stepped down as working royals and criticised their Royal relatives in a Netflix docuseries, followed by Harry’s memoir, Spare.
Royal author Omid Scobie’s new book, Endgame, is set to widen the gap between the two brothers even further with shocking claims about William’s alleged temper and story leaks. Here’s a timeline of the feud between the royal brothers…
The feud between the brothers is thought to have deepened over he years. (Image: PA)
September 1998: ‘William snubs Harry at Eton’
In his memoir, Spare, Harry alleges that William was eager to distance himself from him as far back as their secondary school days. When Harry joined his older brother at the prestigious boarding school, Eton College, he claimed that William told him to act as if they didn’t know each other.
Harry also alleged that his older brother “hated it when anyone made the mistake of thinking us a package deal”. He described how he wanted to share things with his brother, who he says seemed “indifferent” to him.
January 2005: ‘Nazi costume scandal’
Harry claimed that William and Kate, who was the future king’s girlfriend at the time, were the ones who convinced him to wear the notorious uniform to a costume party. Although he said they encouraged him to choose it, he endured the backlash alone which left him with “bottomless self-loathing”.
November 2010: ‘William’s engagement news to Harry’
In November 2010, it came out that Kate and William were tying the knot, but this information had not reached Harry. In his book, Spare, he trashed the rumours that he lent his older brother their late mother’s engagement ring to propose to Kate Middleton, labelling the story as “absolute rubbish”. According to Harry, he wasn’t even aware his brother intended to propose.
Prince Harry claimed in his book that he was surprised to learn about Prince William’s engagement through the news. He said, “Soon after we returned to Britain the Palace announced that Willy was going to marry. November 2010… News to me. All that time together in Lesotho, he’d never mentioned it.”
April 2011: ‘William’s best man misunderstanding’
In April 2011, when Kate and William got married, Harry revealed that although he was the best man in the public eye, he didn’t get to give the speech at the wedding. Instead, two of William’s friends did.
In his memoir, Harry wrote that he understood why his brother wanted to protect his friends’ privacy, but he felt it was a “bare-faced lie” that he was the honoured best man.
Summer 2013: William ‘jealous’ of Harry’s new project
By the summer of 2013, Harry claimed that William seemed “jealous” of a new project he was working on.
In anticipation of fatherhood, Prince William’s brother, Prince Harry embarked on a new mission – the Invictus Games. However, Prince Harry’s memoir highlights a case of “sibling rivalry”, accusing his elder brother of showing jealousy at his charitable venture.
Summer 2016: Meghan enters the picture
Summertime 2016 saw Prince Harry dating Meghan and introducing her to his family. Despite having earlier introduced Meghan to his cousin Eugenie, it was when he told Prince William and Kate Middleton that they allegedly expressed immense joy and shock, revealing to him that they were great admirers of Meghan’s TV series – Suits.
Prince Harry states that he looked forward to creating memories alongside Meghan, although his brother allegedly suggested he should take things slowly.
Meghan met Prince William for the first time in October 2016, as per Harry’s memoir. The meeting didn’t go quite as expected as Meghan rushed in for a hug which led to an awkward moment with William recoiling slightly, according to Harry.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle married in 2018. (Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
November 2016: ‘Harry issues statement defending Meghan’
In November 2016, Prince Harry issued a strong statement about the backlash Meghan Markle was facing since their relationship became public. This move allegedly angered both his father, Prince Charles, and brother, Prince William, according to Harry’s memoir.
He penned: “Pa and Willy were furious. They gave me an earful. My statement made them look bad, they both said, ‘Why in hell?’ Because they’d never put out a statement for their girlfriends or wives when they were being harassed.”
Autumn 2017: ‘William warns Harry not to marry Meghan’
Autumn 2017 saw Prince William allegedly cautioning Harry against marrying Meghan, as per Harry’s memoir. The Duke claimed his elder brother advised him not to rush into proposing to Meghan.
After a year of dating, Harry was ready to propose, which, according to the book, did not sit well with his elder brother. William is reported to have expressed concern and told Harry he was moving too quickly.
Harry wrote: “It’s too fast, he’d told me. Too soon. In fact, he’d actually been pretty discouraging about my even dating Meg.”
“One day, sitting together in his garden, he’d predicted a host of difficulties I could expect if I hooked up with an ‘American actress’, a phrase he always managed to make sound like a ‘convicted felon’. According to author Omid Scobie, the wedding marked the beginning of a more distant chapter in the brothers’ relationship.”
Then HRH Prince Charles (C) poses with his arms around his sons Prince William (R) and Prince Harry during the Royal Family’s ski break at Klosters on March 31, 2005. (Image: Getty Images)
June 2018: The so-called ‘Fab Four’ were attempting to mend fences.
Harry claimed that he and Meghan were invited to William and Kate’s home to mend fences after their wedding. However, Harry alleges that his brother got angry and pointed at Meghan’s face when she suggested Kate was suffering from “baby brain”.
In his book Endgame, Scobie claimed that during the 2018 Christmas season, Charles tried to mend the rift between the two brothers by suggesting William invite Meghan and Harry to his Norfolk home, Anmer Hall. William did invite them, but according to Scobie, the peace didn’t last long.
Early 2019: Things escalated between the brothers.
Prince Harry claimed that his brother grabbed him by the collar and knocked him to the floor during a heated argument about Meghan. In his book Spare, the Duke of Sussex alleged that he had a confrontation with his elder brother at his London home in 2019 which left him with cuts and scratches on his back.
The Prince of Wales is said to have arrived at Harry’s Nottingham Cottage home already very upset, leading to a shouting match between the two. Harry dismissed his brother’s claims that he was trying to help and went to the kitchen where he allegedly told him “Willy, I can’t speak to you when you’re like this”.
He claimed: “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.”
Prince Harry and Prince William arrive at Westminster Abbey prior to his wedding with Kate Middleton. (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
January 2020: Meghan and Harry split with the Firm
After Meghan and Harry stepped back from royal duties, William was reported in the Sunday Times saying: “I’ve put my arm around my brother all our lives and I can’t do that anymore; we’re separate entities”.
Later in the month, it was announced that there would be no half-in-half-out role available for the Sussexes and they were fully removed as acting royals.
March 2021: Sussexes give bombshell Oprah interview
In March 2021, Meghan and Harry gave a controversial interview to Oprah Winfey about why they chose to step back from their Royal duties. Tensions exploded following the sit-down after Meghan claimed senior royals raised concerns about the colour of the yet-unborn Prince Archie’s skin.
The episode prompted Queen Elizabeth II to release a rare statement warning that “recollections may vary”.
April 2021: Prince Phillip’s funeral
Due to the pandemic, the paths of Prince Harry and Prince William didn’t cross for many months until the funeral of their grandfather, Prince Philip, in April 2021. The ceremony had only a few mourners in attendance due to social distancing rules.
Following the service, William and Harry were spotted hesitantly chatting with Kate as they walked back to Windsor Castle.
In his published memoir, Harry revealed that during this time, William criticised him over his Oprah interview and interactions with the press, using a shared “secret code” to express his serious concern. When either brother said “on Mummy’s life”, it signalled the importance of their words being believed by the other.
In this case, it was used by William to stress his wish for Harry’s happiness.
Fast forward to July 2021 when both brothers unveiled a statue of their late mother on what would have been her 60th birthday. The pensive reunion for this significant occasion marked the last time the brothers saw each other for an extended period.
Despite intense public scrutiny when they returned to the UK for Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, Sunday Times reported that Harry and William spent no private downtime together throughout the weekend.
September 2022: The death of Queen Elizabeth II
The brothers came together to pay their respects to their grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II and viewed tributes left by the public in Windsor, along with their wives. However, Omid Scobie reported that this was the first time the couples had seen each other since the Jubilee, and the car journey there was a bit awkward.
According to the author, Charles made William invite Harry and Meghan on the walkabout. For Kate, it’s said to have been one of the “hardest things she’d ever had to do”.
December 2022: Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary is released
While William was in Boston for the Earthshot prize, Netflix released the trailer for Harry and Meghan’s Netflix docuseries. Omid Scobie sclaimed that the streaming giant did this on purpose, and the series itself revealed more about the Sussexes’ complaints and allegations against the Royal households.
Scobie writes in his book that it was a chilly festive period, and he says that while the Sussexes sent Christmas gifts to their nephews and niece, the two brothers didn’t exchange any direct messages.
January 2023: Spare is released
Harry’s memoir was released in early 2023 and quickly topped bestseller lists. It detailed the difficulties the brothers had faced in their sibling relationship since childhood and alleged that staff working for William had leaked stories about the Sussexes to the press.
In interviews promoting the memoir, Harry said he was open to reconciliation if he received an apology, but the ball is in his family’s court.
March 2023: Sussexes evicted
The news broke in March that the Susexes had been evicted from their home of Frogmore Cottage, although Omid Scobie reports that this happened earlier and was a direct response to Spare’s release. He claims Princess Anne was the one who convinced Charles to force them to hand back the keys.
Harry returns to the UK but doesn’t see his brother or father. Two months later he attended King Charles’s coronation, but Meghan stayed at home.
William played a staring role in the ceremony and paid homage to his father, but Harry was relegated to enjoy the proceedings from three rows back.
February 2024: Prince Harry speaks out after King Charles’s cancer diagnosis
Prince Harry spoke out on King Charles’s cancer diagnosis in a bombshell TV interview that was unlikely to be welcomed by the Royal Family.
Speaking on Good Morning America, Prince Harry said: “Look I love my family. The fact that I was able to get on a plane and go and see him and spend any time with him I’m grateful for that.”
When asked if an illness in the family could have a “reunifying effect” Prince Harry responded: “Yeah, I’m sure. Throughout all these families I see it on a day-to-day basis the strength of the family unit coming together. I think any illness, any sickness brings families together.”
