Those of us hoping for a fraternal reconciliation ahead of the Queen's Jubilee celebrations in June may have to recalibrate our expectations.
According to one royal expert, it sounds like we shouldn't hold our breath for relations to improve between Princes William and Harry quite yet.
The Daily Mail's Rebecca English said on MailPlus' Palace Confidential podcast that the Duke of Cambridge is likely to have found some of his younger brother's recent comments about their late mother pretty "hurtful."
For context, the Duke of Sussex gave an interview to TODAY during the Invictus Games in The Hague, in which he said that he felt Princess Diana watching over him.
"It's almost as though she's done her bit with my brother, and now she's very much, like, helping me—got him set up, now she's helping me set up. That's what it feels like. ... She's watching over us," he said.
I don't personally think the U.S.-based duke was trying to say that their mom has, like, abandoned his king-in-waiting of a brother—more so that Prince Harry is just now "settling down" in a new home with two kids under three—but English hypothesized that that may be how Prince William took it.
"Rather than reconciliation, the visit and interview will only add to the sense of weariness that many members of the Royal Family have when it comes to Harry now," she said (via the Daily Star).
"Possibly not for the Queen—she is very keen to keep lines of communication open with him.
"She loves her grandson—her ability to separate royal matters and family is remarkable but I don't think that is the same for other members of the family, particularly the Prince of Wales, who is said to be at the end of his tether over this interview and Prince William."
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made a pit stop via the U.K. to visit the Queen on their way to the Netherlands.
During that fleeting visit, Prince William and his family were on a pre-planned skiing vacation in France, so they weren't purposefully avoiding the Sussexes—but it doesn't sound like they will have been particularly upset about missing them, either.
"What William will find particularly hurtful is the comments Harry made about their later mother Diana," English explained.
"Harry commented about how he feels Diana has done her bit for William in looking after him and his children.
"And now it's time she is focused on him, which is quite a peculiar thing to say. I think it shows Harry's general level of resentment against his brother.
"From William's point of view, in the past, he has made it clear that he finds this kind of attempt of ownership of his late mother quite crass. I suspect he will find those particular comments by Harry quite hurtful."
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