One royal expert says that the late Princess Diana would have been heartbroken to have witnessed the state of her son's broken relationship.
Richard Kay, editor-at-large for the Daily Mail, said in a recent interview on the Mail+'s weekly talk show that the so-called "tussle" between Prince Harry and Prince William "would not exist" if Princess Diana was still alive.
"(Prince Harry and Prince William have) been tussling over Diana's legacy, they've been pulling apart Diana's legacy, (and picking) which part suits them best," Kay said at the time. "I think it's a great tragedy."
"What I knew about Diana was, first and above all, was her love for her sons, that was clear to the whole world, she loved those boys," he continued. " think she would've been broken-hearted. The big question is, would it have still happened had Diana still been with us?"
Kay went on to say that in his opinion and personal viewpoint, the rift between the two brothers "probably wouldn't" exist in part because their late mother "would've remained the pivotal figure in both their lives and prevented the fallout from happening."
Princess Diana passed away in a car crash in 1997 at the age of 36. At the time, Prince William was 15 and young Prince Harry was only 12.
In the 2017 BBC documentary Diana, 7 Days, Prince William recalled "just feeling completely numb, disorientated, dizzy" after learning of his mother's untimely death.
"You feel very, very confused," William said at the time. "And you keep asking yourself, 'Why me?' All the time, 'Why? What have I done? Why? Why has this happened to us?'"
And in 2022, while speaking at the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Prince William opened up about how the country holds both his "happiest" and "saddest" memories, People reported.
"I was in Balmoral when I was told that my mother had died. Still in shock, I found sanctuary in the service at Crathie Kirk that very morning," he recalled. "And in the dark days of grief that followed, I found comfort and solace in the Scottish outdoors. As a result, the connection I feel to Scotland will forever run deep."
According to The Daily Mail, Prince William and Prince Harry first became estranged in 2017, after William encouraged his younger brother to "take things slow" after he met and started to date his now-wife, Meghan Markle.
A source close to the family previously told People that the brothers' relationship is "forever change" and will never go "back to the way they were."
"Harry is looking straight ahead at his future with his family," the source told the publication at the time.
Recently, a source who spoke exclusively to People for the publication's latest cover story, says that the Prince of Wales now ignores his brother's calls, texts and other attempts to communicate.
