Prince Harry Wanted Archie to Be "Best Friends" with Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis

It's clear that growing up royal is no walk in the (St James') park. However, like us normals, princes and princesses daydream about their futures from a young age. The forthcoming book Finding Freedom (opens in new tab), a biography of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, reveals (opens in new tab) what were once the Prince's hopes for his adult familial relationships.

As the book states, a young Prince Harry once told a friend that he "had an image of getting married and spending time with William and Kate, the two couples together, their children best friends."

At least recently, this goal has not come to fruition. Prince Harry, Meghan, and their son, Archie, are currently living in Los Angeles, after stepping back from their royal roles (opens in new tab) in January. Meanwhile, Prince William and Kate continue to be working royals and reside at Kensington Palace with their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. Indeed, it is hard to be best friends from nearly 5,500 miles away.

But, it was not just the distance that prevented Harry from achieving his imagined adulthood. A chilly relationship between the two brothers developed after Harry wed Meghan.

According to Finding Freedom, the Cambridges failed to visit the Sussexes in Oxfordshire for the entirety of their tenure at the country house (opens in new tab), spanning from May 2018 to March 2019. “The invite was there,” a source relays in the book.

While Will and Kate were not helping the relationship, Harry, too, began to find the idea of such close proximity to his brother less and less appealing. After so much professional contact, according to the book, Harry started longing for some space.

"Everywhere you turn, you’re surrounded by staff and family. He was at a point in his life where he was working with his brother, doing the foundation with his brother and living by his brother," a source says in Finding Freedom. "It was too much."

Indeed, Harry now has the distance he craved, but without the closeness between his family and William's. Perhaps, in the future, Archie will indeed be "best friends" with his cousins, but given the distance and the drama, it seems a ways off.

Finding Freedom debuts in August, but is available for pre-order now (opens in new tab).