The future king, whose tension with his brother dates back to 2020 when Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, stepped down as working royals, has been making moves behind the scenes in the Royal Family and is reportedly ready to extend a cautious olive branch to his younger brother.
However, William will only meet with Harry if the reunion is “behind closed doors, under lock and key,” according to Radar Online sources.
“William’s willing to meet Harry, but only if everything happens strictly on his terms,” a royal insider said. “That means no Meghan, no aides, and zero chance of it ending up as content for a documentary or book. He’s deeply wary of being secretly recorded or having his words twisted – the trust between them is completely gone. Harry will basically face being frisked before they talk.”
Trouble between William and Harry started before the younger prince married Meghan but reportedly reached a point of no return when Harry went public with his criticisms of his family in a bombshell interview with Oprah and, later, in his memoir, Spare.
Thus, William reportedly wants any interactions with his brother to remain private.
“William’s terrified that whatever he says could be twisted and made public. He’s not willing to risk being burned again. If Harry wants to talk, it has to stay completely private – no recordings, no pictures, and no version of events spun for publicity,” the source added.
William reportedly felt burned by Spare, in which Harry claimed his older brother once physically attacked him during a heated exchange about Meghan. However, the Prince of Wales may be ready to bury the hatchet.
“He’s not heartless – part of him really misses how things used to be, the jokes, the closeness,” a source claims. “But too much has happened, and he doubts they can ever truly rebuild that trust. He wants some kind of peace, but not if it means setting himself up to be hurt again.”
The possible reconciliation comes after William spoke publicly about his brother for the first time in years during an appearance on Eugene Levy’s travel series, The Reluctant Traveller. There, William discussed changes he has in mind for when he becomes monarch and carefully mentioned his and Harry’s tough childhood in the Royal Family.
“Change for good, and I embrace that and I enjoy that change. I don’t fear it, that’s the bit that excites me – the idea of being able to bring some change,” he said. “I want to create a world in which my son is proud of what we do, in a world and a job that actually does impact people’s lives for the better.”
He added, “That is caveated with, I hope we don’t go back to some of the practices in the past that Harry and I grew up in. And I’ll do everything I can to make sure we don’t regress in that situation.”
