Prince William & Prince Harry's Relationship Is Hindered By 'a Lot of Hurt and Unresolved Issues'

Julie Sprankles

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That rumored rift? Sadly, it seems less and less likely that it’s a rumor. One new source claims that Prince William and Prince Harry have major “unresolved issues” between them, and it is creating tension throughout the entire royal family. Of course, Harry and wife Meghan Markle’s decision to skip the Queen’s Christmas festivities this year certainly hasn’t done anything to diminish the idea that William and Harry simply can’t seem to get along.

So, how did the once-inseparable siblings get to this point? According to People, some sources suggest Harry is harboring a grudge from 2016 — it was then, they say, that William offended his brother by warning him to slow things down with Meghan. However, one reported royal insider cites the 2017 departure of the Queen’s longstanding private secretary, Christopher Geidt, as being the catalyst for the brothers’ current divide. Geidt “really had the boys’ backs,” the royal friend told People, explaining that he served as a buffer between the boys and as sort of a surrogate father (their relationship with Prince Charles is famously strained).

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“There is a lot of hurt and a lot of unresolved issues between the boys,” the friend said, adding that there is now “no one to mediate.” And with time, “those petty grievances can become huge conflicts between all the different royal offices if they aren’t managed correctly, and that’s exactly what’s happening now.”

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It merits mentioning that some of the distance between William and Harry is likely just a natural evolution of their relationship. People get older. They forge lives for themselves. It happens. “As is often the case in any family, when one of your siblings gets married, there’s always a period of readjustment. People have new priorities and different focuses,” the source said, adding, “William is the future King. There is going to be some competitiveness between him and Harry. That already puts a rock in the relationship.”

And while it would be easy to dismiss the rumors about the tension between the brothers as just that — rumors — Harry himself has acknowledged it. In the much-buzzed-about ITV documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, Harry opened up, saying, “Inevitably stuff happens. But we’re brothers, and we’ll always be brothers. We’re certainly on different paths at the moment. I’ll always be there for him and as I know, he’ll always be there for me.”

Harry also pointed out that all brothers “have good days and bad days” and that, often, rumors about fighting between the two are greatly exaggerated. “We don’t see each other as much as we used to because we’re so busy,” he explained, “but I love him dearly.”

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