TENSIONS have been running high between Prince William and Prince Harry lately – but could Princess Diana’s family be the secret weapon to uniting them?
It was reported that Prince Harry visited his late mother’s family home, Althorp House, as he secretly jetted to the UK for his uncle’s memorial service.
Lord Robert Fellowes, brother-in-law of Princess Diana, died on July 31 aged 82, and his funeral was attended by both Prince William and Prince Harry in August.
They were said to have sat apart at the back of the church in Snettisham, Norfolk.
One local added: “William and Harry were both there but we never saw them speak to each other and they were keeping their distance.”
Harry is said to have stayed with his uncle, Earl Charles Spencer at Althorp, according to People magazine, which is also where Princess Diana’s grave lies.
Some royal experts have said Diana’s family could be key in helping to unite the brothers, who have barely spoken to each other since Megxit in 2020, when Harry and wife Meghan Markle quit royal duties for a new life in the States.
Royal expert Ian Pelham Turner told Fox News Digital: “Earl Spencer promised at the funeral of his sister Diana… to constantly look after his nephews William and Harry.
“It is no surprise to me that Harry stayed at Althorp recently because they have been very close since that time.
“Harry can rely upon Earl Spencer. And no doubt, behind the scenes, [the earl] has been trying to build bridges with the brothers.”
WARY OF INTERFERING
Royal expert Ingrid Seward told Fabulous that the family – who include Diana’s sisters Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Lady Jane Fellowes– may be able to help, but it could be tricky.
She explained: ” I think the Spencers understand that family dynamics are very difficult.
“The girls have always been very careful to protect Harry as much as they can, but there is a limit to what they can do within the royal family.
“William, being a working member of the royal family, is far busier than the others, so it’s difficult for them to touch base with him.
“He has so many problems of his own, and they probably don’t want to burden him further or interfere.
“They likely feel it’s not their place to get involved.
“Of course, they could help, but they would be very wary of interfering.”
FAMILY GUIDANCE
Harry, 40, and William, 42, went on a walkabout at Windsor after the death of Queen Elizabeth in 2022 but have barely been in the same room since the King’s Coronation more than a year ago.
Meanwhile, Harry is understood to have not seen his father since a brief meeting on February 6 this year, days after Charles was diagnosed with cancer.
However, Ingrid, who is editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine, said that they could potentially offer some guidance.
She added: “They might say some encouraging words to William when they see him, like at Lord Fellowes’ funeral recently, but these aren’t the kinds of things you can just bring up casually.
“They might say, ‘Come on, William, you know, Harry is really very sorry.’
“But is Harry really very sorry? That’s the burning question.”
A timeline of Prince Harry's family feud
The first hints of friction reportedly came after William was introduced to Meghan when she was staying at Kensington Palace.
Once she’d returned home to Canada, William and Harry sat down for a brother-to-brother chat.
He knew Harry was already head-over-heels for her but it has been claimed he advised him to take it slowly.
The younger prince reportedly didn’t take too kindly to the advice, with one royal source saying he “went mental”.
Then in June 2019 Harry and Meghan officially split off from the charity they shared with William and Kate.
The Royal Foundation will be divided between the Sussexes and Cambridges as the couples focus on their own separate charitable endeavours.
Prince William and Prince Harry first established the Royal Foundation in 2009 before Kate joined two years later shortly after their engagement was announced.
The trio would often appear together at events and the Foundation had huge successes with projects like the Invictus Games for injured veterans and the mental health Heads Together campaign.
The Royal Foundation said the decision was made following the conclusion of a review into its structure – but added both couples will continue to work together in the future.
Harry and Meg were living in close proximity to Kate and Wills within the Kensington Palace estate, but they switched to Frogmore Cottage in Windsor before baby Archie was born.
The move further increased rumours of a fallout.
Harry also hinted in his ITV documentary “Harry and Meghan, An African Journey” that he and his brother had grown apart.
In 2021, Harry and Meghan give their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey where Harry accused his dad of cutting him off financially.
Harry then jetted back to UK to join William in unveiling a statue to their mother Princess Diana in the grounds of Kensington Palace. But sources claimed William didn’t want to attend the memorial amid their ongoing rift.
In 2022, just before their grandmother the Queen died, sources claimed Kate acts as a “peacemaker” between the brothers.
Harry claimed his brother “knocked him to the floor” during an argument about Meghan, in his memoir.
In Spare, Harry said William branded Meghan “rude” and “difficult” during a row.
Harry alleged William “grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and … knocked me to the floor”.
He said he was left with a visible injury to his back following the argument in 2019 at Nottingham Cottage on the grounds of Kensington Palace, where he was living at the time.
In January this year, Harry flew in to be with Charles after the monarch’s shock cancer diagnosis.
Harry flew back to the US the following day – without seeing Wills.
In May he visited the UK for a three-day visit without seeing King Charles or Prince William.
HAVEN FOR HARRY?
Ian added that although “nothing is certain”, Althorp could become a “secure temporary location for Harry and [his] family if they decide to return to Britain.”
Ingrid added: “The Spencers would welcome him with open arms.
“I think they are trying to provide a bit of a family backbone for him because he hasn’t really got that where he is.
“Meghan doesn’t see her family, and he only has Meghan’s mum.”
It could also be poignant for Harry being close to his mother’s final resting place, which is located on an island in the middle of an ornamental lake on the estate.
The girls have always been very careful to protect Harry as much as they can, but there is a limit to what they can do within the royal family
Ingrid Seward
US magazine People — which has close links to the Sussexes — previously reported Harry would stay away because he felt unsafe in Britain.
The Duke of Sussex lost the right to close protection after stepping back as a working royal.
He also lost a High Court challenge against a ruling it was legal – but is set to appeal.
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PEACEMAKER DIANA
Diana’s former bodyguard spoke on The Sun’s Royal Exclusive show about the role the late Princess of Wales could have played in getting her sons to reconcile.
Ken Wharfe, who is a former Metropolitan police officer, looked after the young royal family from 1986 until 1993 before Princess Diana’s death four years later.
The Sun’s Royal Editor, Matt Wilkinson, asked Ken: “Is it impossible to say, but how do you think Diana would feel knowing these two previously close brothers are basically at war?”
Ken replied: “The sad thing is, Diana’s death in 1997, that was a traumatic experience certainly for them. They lose their mother so publicly.
Is Harry really very sorry? That’s the burning question
Ingrid Seward
“In Prince Harry’s particular case, as a 13, 14-year-old, he is, in a sense of duty, he has to walk behind his mother’s coffin to Westminster Abbey.
“Up until that point, even after that point they [Harry and William] remained good friends.”
He added: “Coming back to how Diana would resolve that, because Diana knew William and Harry probably better than anybody else, [she] would have understood the problems, [she] would have seen the issues surrounding the complications with Harry and Meghan and all that that had with it at the time.”
Everything you need to know about Princess Diana's final years
After years of separation, Prince Charles and Princess Diana divorced in 1996.
In 1997, Princess Diana spent her summer in the south of France and Italy. During August, she visited Sarajevo, Bosnia, to highlight the fight against landmines.
By the end of the month, the Princess of Wales and Dodi Al-Fayed travelled to Paris together.
It was revealed that Princess Diana stayed longer than planned in Paris due to a row over her land mine campaign.
Travelling in a black Mercedes Benz, Princess Diana was involved in a car crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel on August 31, 1997.
The Princess of Wales died at the age of 36.
Her funeral was held on September 6, 1997. As her coffin made the journey from Kensington Palace to Westminister Abbey, Prince William and Prince Harry walked behind their late mother.
Princess Diana’s mother, Frances Shand Kydd, and sisters, Jane Fellowes and Sarah McCorquodale, also attended the funeral.
The Princess of Wales was buried at her childhood home – Althorp House
If it wasn’t for her tragic death, Princess Diana would have been 62 today.