While Prince Harry and Prince William’s relationship has been up in the air for years now, there’s no question that the Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan didn’t bring them closer together. Now, it’s been well over a year since those with Netflix subscriptions tuned into the series about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and a Royal author has weighed in on how he thinks the younger prince was "dissing" his older brother in it.
This time, the claims about the brothers’ turbulent relationship stem from Robert Hardman’s thoughts on comments Prince Harry made in Harry & Meghan. The author of The Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy told Page Six he thought the Duke of Sussex was "dissing" his older brother in it when he spoke about marriage, saying:
Harry talks about marrying someone for love, not because it’s the sort of person you ought to. I think that’s a lot more wounding. I mean that’s effectively dissing your brother and his choice of wife in a very public way.
In the first episode of Harry & Meghan, the younger prince speaks about his family and their relationship with marriage. Here’s exactly what he said:
For so many people in the family, especially obviously the men, there can be a temptation or urge to marry someone who would fit the mold, as opposed to somebody who you perhaps are destined to be with.
As you can see, there are no specific names named. However, Hardman believes that Prince Harry was speaking about his brother, Prince William.
In the docuseries, Harry finished off his thought on the matter by saying:
The difference between making decisions with your head, or your heart. And my mum made most of her decisions, if not all of them, from her heart, and I am my mother’s son.
Again, no specific names were dropped. However, due to the nature of the brother’s relationship, and the allegations from Prince Harry’s memoir Spare that followed the docuseries, this author believes that Prince William was called out in this moment. Hardman noted that one of the reasons he believes the younger brother dissed his older brother was by making private stories public, after saying that both are quite private people:
Privacy is really important and Harry’s just gone and chucked all these stories about their childhood into the public domain.
After Spare and the Netflix series came out, it was reported that reconciliation is “certainly not going to happen anytime soon” between the two princes, with Royal expert Katie Nicholl saying that Harry’s book “cast William in a pretty bad light.” Also, reports stated that the release of the blockbuster memoir seemingly had a negative impact on Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Of course, stories like the one about the controversial Nazi uniform Harry wore and his brother and sister-in-law being involved likely didn’t make his older sibling happy. Now, Hardman is claiming that other stories told and claims made in both Spare and Harry & Meghan have led to the two’s reportedly very rocky relationship.
While none of this is confirmed, there have been countless reports about Prince William and Prince Harry’s shaky relationship, and how the Netflix docuseries and memoir reportedly made matters worse.
As this situation develops, we’ll be sure to keep you posted. In the meantime, while we wait for more news about the royal brothers, be sure to check out the 2024 TV schedule.
