For Prince Harry, the Princess of Wales was less of a sister-in-law and more, according to multiple accounts, of the sister he never had. As the chasm widened between Harry and his older brother, Prince William—who, on the 1 percent chance you’re not aware, is the Prince of Wales and has been married to Kate since 2011—the gulf between Harry and Kate unfortunately did, as well. And, in addition to the emotional distance between the two, the geographical distance factors in, as well, after Harry moved to the U.S. in 2020 with his wife, Meghan Markle, as they stepped away from their roles as working members of the royal family.
Harry all but immediately hopped on a plane bound for the U.K. within hours of his father, King Charles, announcing his cancer diagnosis in February; after Kate did the same in a brave video message on March 22, it’s unclear how much Harry has spoken with her, and seems abundantly clear that he hasn’t seen her face-to-face, as his first visit back to the U.K. since her March announcement was last week, and Harry isn’t thought to have seen his father, brother, or sister-in-law while in London.
“Harry would love to reconnect with Kate,” royal biographer Christopher Andersen told Fox News Digital (and per The Mirror). “They were once extremely close, and Harry was hit hard by the news of her cancer diagnosis, which he learned about just the way the rest of us did, via Kate’s shocking video.”
In terms of a reconciliation attempt, Andersen added “Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear William is willing to let his brother anywhere near his ailing wife,” he said. “There was just too much drama between the brothers and their wives, and there is lingering bitterness on everyone’s part. So, the chances of even a meeting between Harry and the rest of the royal family—much less some sort of reconciliation—seem extremely slim.”
After Kate announced her diagnosis, Harry and Meghan released a statement, saying “We wish health and healing for Kate and the family, and hope they are able to do so privately and in peace.”
“There’s a deep rift between the brothers—that we know,” royal commenter Richard Fitzwilliams told The Sun. “We also know that they haven’t apparently spoken in many months, and the reason, of course, is that for some four years, they’ve caused endless problems to the royal family, and so they can’t be trusted.”
Fitzwilliams said that William’s trust has been broken since the couple’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, and was only further exacerbated by the couple’s Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan (released in December 2022) and Harry’s memoir, Spare, which came out the following month. “The trouble is, that’s the only thing that appears to have made a lot of money for them,” Fitzwilliams said about projects pertaining to the royal family. “That raises other questions as to what they’ll be doing in the future.”
To Harry and Kate’s relationship, a source said, per OK, “Everyone assumes Kate doesn’t like Harry, but they have a special bond that not many people understand,” they said. “She and Harry were extremely close at one time. She’s confided in him during some of her darkest moments.”
