Prince William and Prince Harry: ‘No Reconciliation Expected Anytime Soon,’ Source Says

It’s been a doubly bad day of news for Prince Harry. After it was reported that the 39-year-old and his wife, Meghan Markle, were not invited to King Charles‘ upcoming birthday soiree, a source now tells ET that Harry shouldn’t hold his breath when it comes to reconciling with his big brother, Prince William.

The source tells ET that Harry and William’s relationship “has not improved since the publication of Spare and there is no reconciliation expected anytime soon.” The source adds that the root of the problem all boils down to a lack of trust.

“There is no real trust at the moment and that needs to be rebuilt,” the source added. “There’s a great deal of hurt on both sides.”

What’s more, a source also tells ET that nothing would make the king happier than if his sons could mend their differences.

“While Charles loves his younger son, the relationship is still complicated. Father and son do not communicate regularly and that will take some time to heal,” the source said. “The relationship with the rest of the family also remains frayed after Harry’s book and the Sussex’s Netflix series. The King would like to see his grandchildren Archie and Lili as would the rest of the royal family. For now, at least, that seems to be a long way off.”

Just days ago, The Sunday Times reported that Harry and Meghan declined to appear at Charles’ celebration but a spokesperson for the Sussexes has since shared an alternative version of the story, saying they had not yet been invited to attend. 

“In response to U.K. media headlines, there has been no contact regarding an invitation to His Majesty’s upcoming birthday. It is disappointing the Sunday Times has misreported this story,” a spokesperson for the couple said.

In any event, that the couple was not invited doesn’t come as a surprise, and ditto that there’s still a rift between the brothers. Fans will recall that when William and Kate Middleton visited the U.S. last year, a source close to the Prince and Princess of Wales told ET that there would be no plans for them to see the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in the States, and that’s exactly what transpired.

“Everyone wants to see a repair in the rift because it doesn’t do anyone any good to have this rift in the heart of the House of Windsor… [but] William simply cannot forgive Harry. Not just for leaving, but for how he left,” royal expert Katie Nicholl told ET in October 2022 in regard to Harry and Meghan’s decision to stop serving as senior members of the royal family.

Harry’s tell-all memoir, Spare, which dropped in January, triggered feelings of betrayal for the royal family, with a source telling ET just days ahead of the book’s release that “no one in the family trusts Harry anymore.”

Among the slew of bombshell allegations in Spare includes Harry claiming his older brother physically attacked him at his London home in 2019, after William allegedly called Meghan “difficult,” “rude” and “abrasive.” In an interview with ITV‘s Tom Bradby that aired the weekend the book dropped, Harry opened up about why he didn’t fight back.

Harry, who said he and William used to “fight all the time like a lot of siblings,” said he would have 100 percent fought William in the heat of that alleged 2019 altercation had it not been for therapy.

“I can pretty much guarantee today, that if I wasn’t doing therapy sessions like I was and being able to process that anger and frustration, that I would’ve fought back,” Harry said, “one hundred percent.”

Nicholl also told ET that William was “incredibly angry at the level of detail” Harry went into for his headline-grabbing memoir. 

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