I’ve seen a lot of angst from the Sussex Squad about People Magazine’s cover story this week. For what it’s worth, my reading of the story is that it’s not a hit job on the Sussexes OR the Windsors. While People Mag is trying to play both sides, they make it pretty clear that King Charles does have the power to ensure the Sussexes’ security. People’s sources also make the Sussexes’ case for why they left the UK, why they signed onto commercial deals and what Harry’s legal cases have been about. My read: this is part of the Sussexes’ pushback on Buckingham Palace’s flagrant campaign to position Harry as “refusing to bring his children to the UK to see Charles.” The details about Charles refusing to speak to Harry on the phone and refusing to answer Harry’s letters? Those details come from a son who is sick of his father’s bullsh-t. Now, this part of the story? Who even knows.
Prince Harry’s relationship with the royal family is at a breaking point. Sources tell PEOPLE in this week’s exclusive cover story that while calls and letters to his father, King Charles, go unanswered, Harry’s attempts to connect with his brother, Prince William — through texts, calls, and messages — are similarly ignored.
The rift with Prince William is “very bad,” says a royal insider, but it’s not “irreparable.”
William, 42, and Harry, 39, last presented a united front with their wives, Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, when they met mourners outside Windsor Castle after Queen Elizabeth’s death in September 2022.
In May 2023, Harry stayed on the sidelines at the coronation of King Charles and sat two rows behind his brother William and his family. Meghan remained in the U.S. for Prince Archie’s birthday.
It’s been widely reported that the brothers’ rift began in 2016 when William expressed concerns about how quickly Harry’s relationship with Meghan was moving. In his memoir Spare, Harry revealed the complexities of his relationship with William, which, despite a public image of closeness, was marked by tension. Harry described William as both his “beloved brother and arch nemesis,” recounting instances of verbal and even physical altercations between them.
I don’t buy that Harry is constantly trying to contact William, but Harry probably tried to get in touch (via text, my guess) when the Princess of Wales’s cancer video came out. Don’t confuse “texting an angry egg” with “reconciliation attempts” though. Harry said s-p-a-c-e and he meant it. Besides, William has spent the past two years rage-briefing that he never wants to see or speak to Harry again and that he’ll only speak to Harry at their father’s funeral.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.