Prince William Feared for the Monarchy When Harry Married Meghan

last updated 14 October 2021

A new royal biography is shedding light on the origins of Prince William and Prince Harry's long-rumored feud.
In his upcoming book, Battle of Brothers: The Inside Story of a Family in Tumult, royal historian and biographer Robert Lacey explains the role Harry's relationship with Meghan Markle played in the breakdown of his relationship with his brother.
According to Lacey, Will was concerned with the "future state of his monarchy" while Harry was focused on the "love of the complex and captivating woman who had finally made sense of his life."

It's no secret to royal fans that Prince William and Prince Harry's relationship has been, well, strained at best for a while now. In his new book Battle of Brothers: The Inside Story of a Family in Tumult, royal historian and biographer Robert Lacey digs deep into the brothers' feud to get to its origins, which, according to him, have at least some roots in Harry's romance with Meghan Markle.

"The fundamental conflict was between the two males who had known each other all their lives and had never hesitated to tell each other exactly what they thought and felt," Lacey writes in the book, according to an excerpt published by People. "William worried that his brother was moving too fast in his courtship—and he did not shrink from saying as much when Harry started talking about getting hitched to Meghan quite soon."

According to Lacey, a source close to the brothers said that the big confrontation about Meghan went down "sometime in late 2016 or early 2017," and that "William couched his question in terms of apparent concern for Meghan."

As Lacey points out, Will had a much different approach to his own marriage, and waited years before popping the question to Kate Middleton.

“'Waity William,' of course, took so long to commit to Kate for the sake of the monarchy. He had been auditioning her for a job all those years. So Harry could not help but wonder whether Wills was really concerned about his personal happiness—or whether he was, once again and as per usual, thinking about the makeup and fortunes of 'the Firm' whose boss he would become one day? The response from Harry was a brusque and offended pushback," Lacey writes.

Ultimately, Lacey says the feud came down to a difference in priorities. For Will, it was a question of the future of the monarchy, whereas Harry was focused on love.

"Here we have a couple of brothers who loved each other dearly—most profoundly and genuinely, in fact—but who could give as good as they got when it came to a clash over something that mattered intensely to them," Lacey writes. "For William it was the future state of his monarchy—his sacred trust; while for Harry it was the love of the complex and captivating woman who had finally made sense of his life."