Entertainment

Are Harry & William Close? Here's What's Known About The Status Of Their Reported Feud

by Hollee Actman Becker
WPA Pool/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Celebrity relationships and friendships are a rare breed. These famous faces have their lives played out in front of the masses, whether it’s the good, the bad, or the straight-up shady. In Elite Daily’s new series, It’s Complicated, we’re highlighting the biggest celebrity “feuds” that took over Hollywood and dominated our Sunday brunches for weeks on end. We’ll take a deep dive into the lives and social media feeds of our favorite stars and dissect what happened in front of the camera, what went down behind the scenes, and everything you might have missed in between.

Can someone please tell me what is up with Prince William and Prince Harry lately? I mean, they leaned on each other after the death of their beloved mom, Princess Diana, and they've been super tight for most of their lives. But lately, there have been countless reports of a simmering feud between the royal bros. So are Harry and William close these days, or not?

There seems to be a whole lot of reported drama between the two brothers (and reportedly between their wives, Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton, too), and now fans of the royals are kind of worried that this royal bond is close to breaking.

Take, for example, the statement released by Kensington Palace on March 14, 2019, which revealed the Queen approved a household split for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex — an act that would break up the family’s joint court and create two different offices. While William and Kate will remain at Kensington Palace, Meghan and Harry will move their office to Buckingham Palace with the Queen.

Let's take a look at what Kensington Palace's March 14 statement announcing the splitting of the royal households actually said:

The Queen has agreed to the creation of a new household for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, following their marriage in May last year. The Household, which will be created with the support of the Queen and the Prince of Wales, will be established in the spring. This long-planned move will ensure that permanent support arrangements for the Duke and Duchess' work are in place as they start their family and move to their official residence at Frogmore Cottage. The Queen has given permission for The Duke and Duchess of Sussex to base their Household Office at Buckingham Palace.

Interesting, right?

And let's not forget that on April 2, it was revealed Harry and Meghan no longer share an Instagram account with William and Kate, but instead are now rocking an official Insta of their own. [link to insta here]

Oh, you missed that big announcement, didja? Well, check it out:

I'm totally here for this new development! Until now, the two couples have shared Kensington Palace’s social media accounts. So yeah, it definitely sounds like William and Harry are moving in different directions.

TBH, I can understand why fans totally all this as a breakup of sorts, especially since all these major changes followed the announcement that Meghan and Harry would be moving out of Kensington Palace and to Frogmore Cottage on the grounds of Windsor Estate, which is about 30 minutes away.

At the very least, this seems like a royal version of conscious uncoupling.

But is it, tho?

According to People, none of this is all that surprising, and it's not necessarily indicative of whether or not the brothers are still close, either. Because, apparently, all of this is just business.

"They have always been different, they are very different characters," a source told the publication. "They drew great comfort from each other when their mother died, and as they’ve grown up together. But they need to be separate. Now Meghan has arrived it is the right time to make that break. They are in their 30s and can’t be treated as young unmarried men anymore. Now, they are spreading their wings. William more than Harry as he has his three children — but Harry is now starting his own — and it is time to move on."

Let's reach out to the palace about the above

I'm not crying, you are!

"It is inevitable and practical," royal expert and author Sally Bedell Smith told People of the split. "It gives Harry and Meghan some freedom to build up their own collection of interests and charities. Meghan has very strong views on what she is interested in and that may be what Harry shares, but not what William and Kate share."

Annnnd, just like that we're back to Meghan.

Remember back in November when a source told Vanity Fair that Harry was pissed William didn't do enough to welcome Meghan into the family?

"Harry felt William wasn’t rolling out the red carpet for Meghan and told him so," the source explained. "They had a bit of a fall out which was only resolved when Charles stepped in and asked William to make an effort." Elite Daily reached out to Kensington Palace for comment on the status of Prince William and Prince Harry's relationship at the time, but they declined to comment.

Meanwhile, according to filmmaker Nick Bullen, all the reported royal drama actually has very little to do with the Duchess of Sussex. In fact, he told Fox News his royal-expert opinion is that it's more likely William and Harry who have had a rift — albeit a small, totally normal, not-nearly-as-dramatic-as-the-press-is-portraying one.

"All brothers fall out," he shared. "I think people don’t want to think about that with these two boys. These are two boys who lost their mother at a really early age, and the fairy tale is that they are closer than ever, and need each other, and I think that’s probably true. But equally, they are two grown men in their 30s, starting their own families, different wives, they are moving to different parts of the country, different duties. We forget that they are people. We’ve all fallen out with our brothers and sisters over the years, and hopefully, it’ll be fine." Elite Daily reached out to Kensington Palace for comment on the status of Prince William and Prince Harry's relationship at the time, but they declined to comment.

Yes, hopefully it will be. Otherwise, things could get really awkward when they both roll up to annual events like Commonwealth Day and Trooping the Colour.

Look, there's always gonna be an appetite for royal drama. But from where I sit, what's going on between the brothers just seems to be totally normal growing pains as they each attempt to forge their own path with the added pressure of being a friggin' royal with a million eyes on every move you make.

Of course, babies have a way of reminding everyone about the most important things in life. Like, you know, family. So even if there is a little rift brewing below the surface here, let's hope that when Meghan and Harry's firstborn finally arrives, all will be right in the world and Harry and William will be royal bros once again.

Caroline Wurtzel/Elite Daily