William and Harry: The royal brothers’ rift 25 years after Diana’s death
Twenty-five years on from the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, much has changed in the lives of her two sons.
Princes William and Harry were just 15 and 12 when their mother was tragically killed in a car crash in a Paris underpass in the early hours of August 31, 1997.
The brothers sought comfort from one another in the aftermath of Diana’s death during their difficult teenage years and beyond.
A quarter of a century later, the royal brothers – the Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex – are now grown men, fathers and husbands – but their once close relationship has altered beyond all recognition, blighted by a long-running rift.
The duke was apparently angered at what he perceived to be his brother’s “snobbish” attitude towards his bride, after William questioned whether he should rush into things.
The Sussexes later quit as senior working royals after struggling with royal life and moved to California.
The Duchess of Cambridge was publicly singled out by Meghan for allegedly making her cry in the run-up to the wedding.
William was furious that private family matters were brought into the public domain.
But Robert Lacey, author of Battle Of Brothers: William, Harry And The Inside Story Of A Family In Turmoil, said there were problems much earlier, including in 2005 when Harry was condemned for dressing up as a Nazi for a “Colonials and Natives” party.
Mr Lacey wrote: “The young prince began re-evaluating his elder brother’s involvement and the unfairness of William’s subsequent emergence smelling of roses. It made Harry feel alienated.
Mr Lacey suggested Diana raised her sons with a “Talk to each other, for God’s sake!” approach and would have wanted them to end their continuing “social distancing”.
Harry has admitted he turned to drink and drugs as he dealt with the trauma of his mother’s death.
His openness about how he battled to cope and came close to a “complete breakdown” after not talking about his loss has won plaudits from mental health charities.
They marked the occasion by commissioning a statue in her memory.
But in the wake of the Megxit and Oprah controversies, they reunited only briefly in the summer of 2021 to finally unveil the bronze tribute, going their separate ways immediately afterwards.
Harry and Meghan are due to visit the UK in September and are expected to stay at Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor estate, just walking distance from the Cambridge family’s new home Adelaide Cottage.
Yet a rapprochement looks unlikely, not least due to the looming prospect of the publication of Harry’s tell-all memoirs, with the couples not expected to spend time together during the Sussexes’ whirlwind trip.
“Granny Diana” has five grandchildren she never got to meet – William and Kate’s children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, and Harry and Meghan’s youngsters Archie and Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor.
The Cambridge children make cards for the princess each year on Mother’s Day, with Charlotte poignantly writing, as seen in pictures released last year: “I love you very much. Papa is missing you.”