Prince William and Prince Harry Have Taken the First "Baby Steps" Toward Healing Their Rift, Experts Say

• Earlier this week, royal fans were treated to a rare joint appearance by Prince William and Prince Harry (opens in new tab) as the brothers came together to unveil a new statue in honor of Princess Diana (opens in new tab) at Kensington Palace.
• The brothers, who have been struggling in their relationship with each other, came together for the event and issued a joint statement about the significance of the memorial.
• Several leading royal experts agree that the event may be a turning point for William and Harry and that it may have enabled the brothers to take the first "baby steps" toward repairing their bond.

Prince William and Prince Harry's feud (opens in new tab) may be coming to an end.

After Will and Harry's recent joint appearance (opens in new tab) to unveil a new statue in honor of their late mother, Princess Diana (opens in new tab), at Kensington Palace in London, several leading royal experts came together to weigh in on the state of the brothers' infamously-strained relationship.

In a special Facebook Live edition of True Royalty TV's The Royal Beat (opens in new tab), royal commentator and author Katie Nicholl (opens in new tab), royal historian and biographer Robert Lacey, (opens in new tab) and royal biographer and Majesty magazine editor, Ingrid Seward (opens in new tab), all offered insights into how coming together for the event may have impacted Harry and William's relationship.

Here are some highlights from the royal experts' discussion (per The Mirror (opens in new tab)):

Unveiling the Princess Diana statue will likely prove to be a turning point in Prince William and Prince Harry's relationship:

"I think the simple fact is that Diana would be devastated that the brothers have fallen out. She would have hated it. She said to the boys ‘whatever you do, stick together,' and they haven't. They’ve come unstuck," Nicholl explained. "But today, I think this statue represents a glue that will begin to heal. It's going to take more than just this to heal the rift but there has to be a starting point in the getting back together process.”

Prince William and Prince Harry may have taken the first "baby steps" toward working through their issues:

"What could be a better starting point than this? They are both there to pay tribute to and reflect on their mother and what she stood for," Lacey, author of Battle of Brothers (opens in new tab) (aka the definitive royal biography on Will and Harry's rift), said. "[Harry’s] pleased to be back in England, on his own home territory with his family. I think we can read positive vibrations into what we've just seen. Obviously, it's not going to be a total reconciliation, but I think it's its first baby steps towards some sort of new arrangement in the future."

The fact that the event centered on their mother may have played a big role in bringing Prince William and Prince Harry closer again:

"There's no way they were going to let anyone steal the thunder from their mum and the statue, so they were very, very anxious to keep control of this," Seward said. "They were definitely not going to let us know if things were awkward. I don't think it's the moment to try and have a rapprochement. I think it's very difficult when you haven't spoken to a member of your family for some time to suddenly say ‘well right let's make it up.' It's sort of unsaid, especially amongst the Royals. They're not the greatest at this kind of conversation."

The unveiling of the Diana memorial signals a shift in the royal family and the "new Spencer generation":

“There's no way the Queen would have put up a statue to Diana, obviously no way Charles would have put up a statue to Diana, so this is them," Lacey added. "It's the new Spencer generation taking over. There’s not a Windsor in sight here, it’s that side of the family.”