Prince William & Prince Harry's Relationship Still at "Rock Bottom"

(Image credit: Getty)

published 24 April 2023

Coming on a year since the expression was first used to describe it, Prince William and Prince Harry's relationship is still at "rock bottom," according to one royal expert.

If the Duke of Sussex' memoir Spare is to be believed, the royal brothers were far less close growing up than previously thought—with an air of competitiveness always lingering between the two.

But since Harry and Meghan swapped royal life for a family life in Southern California, the brothers' relationship has gone from bad to worse.

This means that, though Harry will be attending King Charles' coronation on May 6, it's unlikely that the monarch's sons will have any breakthroughs at that time—if they even speak to each other at all.

"William and Harry are still pretty much at rock bottom. I don't think anything has changed there," royal editor Russell Myers said on True Royalty TV's The Royal Beat (via the Mirror).

"I don't think the Prince of Wales will have time or the inclination to speak to his brother."

This is a result both of the fact that William will be playing a pivotal role in the coronation (as first in line to the throne) and of the fact that he probably doesn't want to speak to his brother, according to several royal experts.

"He feels immensely hurt by the barbs that were in Harry’s book and the way that he [Harry] has carried on speaking, knowing it will hurt the family," Myers continued.

"The issue is Harry has earned an incredible amount of money off the back of these attacks. Whether William has cause to speak to him—I very much doubt."

Back in June 2022, a source told Us Weekly that William "doesn’t know who [Harry] is anymore and the trust between them is strained, adding that "they’ll never recover from the damage that has been done."

Since then, Harry released Spare, which in many ways takes aim at William, his wife Kate, and Charles and Camilla. Reportedly, this has served as a sort of final straw for the Prince of Wales, who isn't likely to reconcile with Harry any time soon. :/

Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Bustle and Shape. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.

Marie Claire Newsletter