It doesn’t seem like Prince Harry, 39, had any successful peace talks with his father, King Charles, 74, and brother, Prince William, 41, when he briefly visited the U.K. last month, and the rift within the royal family is still ongoing.
Kate Middleton, 41, was reportedly previously very open to her husband and brother-in-law healing their ongoing rift, and has even reportedly been making late night phone calls to Prince Harry in California because she feels sorry for him; but according to the latest reports, now doesn’t see a reconciliation happening any time soon.
Prince William And Kate Middleton Have 'Closed Their Minds' To A Reconciliation With Prince Harry And Meghan Markle
According to royal expert Jennie Bond, the Prince and Princess of Wales have "closed their minds" to mending their broken bond with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, telling Ok!: "When you come from a happy, united family – as Catherine does – it’s incredibly hard to understand how people can become estranged."
Bond recalled how, in her opinion, the Princess of Wales thought the brothers would have made up by now, but that is not the case. "I think she believed the rift could be fixed and, after Prince Philip’s funeral, we saw her talking with Harry and obviously encouraging William to do the same. But we now know that it didn’t work," Bond said. "In fact, William and Harry had a blazing row right after the funeral. There comes a point when you just have to accept that happy families are not a game that everyone can play."
Bond went on to reference some of the things Prince Harry and Meghan have said about them and the rest of the royal family in various interviews over the years, including their infamous Netflix Harry & Meghan docuseries, saying: "Catherine has been hurt and insulted by things that Harry and Meghan have said, but she and William are a very strong team, and I suspect that, together, they’ve come to the conclusion that the rift with Harry cannot be fixed in the foreseeable future. They’ve closed their minds to that possibility and decided to get on with their lives."
Royal expert Duncan Larcombe echoed this, referencing Prince William's recent solo trip to the Big Apple: "I think William’s way of dealing with it is to focus on the job in hand, and that’s how he’s coped. It’s the same with Kate. They’re rolling their sleeves up and getting on with it and William’s trip to New York is no exception to that."
Prince William May Have Been Thinking About Prince Harry On His US Trip, Royal Expert Says
Prince William recently flew to the U.S. for the Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit in New York, which took place on Tuesday, September 19th. Interestingly, Larcombe told Ok! that although he wouldn’t have let on, Prince Harry would have been in Prince William’s thoughts "during quieter moments" of the two-day New York trip, saying: "There are always going to be certain things that will remind William of his younger brother and that will be upsetting for him – I don’t doubt that for a second."
"I’d love to know how much of the Invictus Games William saw and whether or not he even dared watch the Netflix documentary about it," he continued, in reference to Netflix's Heart of Invictus. "Maybe it was just too painful for him," Larcombe said, adding that the rift between them is "such a shame." "Things could have been so different if the boys were on speaking terms. They could have lent some clout to each other’s projects. These opportunities are lost."
