At the time of writing this reconciliation does not seem imminent. Prince Charles’s March 2020 brush with COVID-19 did prompt the two brothers to resume telephone contact, but no more has come of that. Their father has not been able to bring William and Harry back together.
So what would have been the verdict of their mother? That it is time, perhaps, for the social distancing to end?
Picture Section
Happy Families – The Prince and Princess of Wales with William, 4, and Harry, 1 year 9 months, in the Wild Flower Meadow at Highgrove. 14 July 1986.
Prince Charles with Princess Anne as children in the grounds of Royal Lodge, Windsor, 1954.
Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in Buckingham Palace on their wedding day, 29 July 1981.
Diana and Camilla Parker Bowles at Ludlow Races, where Prince Charles was competing in the Amateur Riders’ Handicap Chase in January 1980. He finished second.
First Steps. Prince Harry, 13 months, paces it out at Highgrove, helped by his brother William, 2 years 4 months, 22 October 1985.
Diana photographed shortly before her death with Harry, 12, and William, 15.
Birthday Parade. Prince Harry, 4 years 9 months, looking out over the Buckingham Palace balcony at the Trooping the Colour ceremony, 17 June 1989.
Princess of Hearts. Diana visits a minefield being cleared by the HALO Trust in Angola, south-west Africa, January 1997.
Diana presents a polo trophy to her lover James Hewitt at Windsor while William looks on, 1989.
The last photo of Diana, leaving the Ritz Hotel, Paris, with Dodi Fayed on the evening of 30 August 1997.
‘If I walk, will you walk with me?’ Prince Philip, Prince William, Earl Spencer, Prince Harry and Prince Charles follow Diana’s coffin, 6 September 1997.
‘Mummy’. The wreath of white roses laid on Diana’s coffin by Princes William and Harry, 6 September 1997.
Prince William, 17, in his final year at Eton, June 2000.
William and Kate, both 23, on their graduation day at St Andrews University, June 2005 – photographed by the Middleton family.
Kate Middleton, 20, at the student fashion show, St Andrews University, where she caught the eye of Prince William, 26 March 2002.
Prince William and Kate on their wedding day, 29 April 2011.
Fresh from the Registry Office. Prince Charles and Camilla on their wedding day in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle, 9 April 2005.
Son and Heir. Prince William and Kate on the steps of the Lindo Wing, Paddington, following the birth of Prince George, 23 July 2013.
Harry, Meghan, Kate and William ‘together’ at the Royal Foundation early 2018.
The Fab Four at Sandringham – 25 December 2017.
Kate and Meghan enjoy Wimbledon together, women’s singles final, 13 July 2019.
Where’s Archie? No sign of the Sussex family in the Queen’s 2019 Christmas broadcast.
June, 2019. Prince William holds his youngest child Louis on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for the Trooping the Colour ceremony with Catherine and their elder children George and Charlotte.
Prince Harry, 23, on patrol in Garmsir, Helmand Province, Southern Afghanistan, 28 February 2008.
Prince Harry greets the press shortly before his fourth birthday, August 1988.
In Botswana with the Tusk Trust charity, Prince Harry taunts his brother with a snake, June 2010.
Meghan Markle with her parents Doria Ragland and Thomas Markle.
Woman in a Man’s World. A production still of Meghan Markle playing the role of top lawyer Rachel Zane in the successful US TV drama series Suits.
Meghan Markle with her mother Doria on their way to St George’s Chapel, Windsor, on her wedding day, 19 May 2018.
Prince Charles escorts Doria Ragland (left) and Camilla (right) from St George’s Chapel after the wedding of Meghan and Harry, 19 May 2018.
Meghan’s first official engagement with Queen Elizabeth II: the opening of the Mersey Gateway Bridge, Widnes, 14 June 2018.
Meghan bakes with survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire, London, November 2018.
Harry and Meghan present their son Archie to the world in St George’s Hall, Windsor Castle, 8 May 2019.
Meghan introduces Archie to Archbishop Desmond Tutu during their royal tour of South Africa, Cape Town, September 2019.
Harry joins with Jon Bon Jovi and members of the Invictus Games Choir to recreate the Beatles’ Abbey Road zebra crossing image, 28 February 2020.
Parting of the Ways. William and Harry follow the family out of Westminster Abbey at the end of their last public appearance together prior to the Sussexes’ departure for North America – at the Commonwealth Day Service of 9 March 2020.
Source Notes
Chapter 1 – Brothers at War
The story of the ‘warming pan’ baby and its significance for the British Constitution is related by Dr Charles Littleton in the journal The History of Parliament for July 2013. This account of Archie’s birth is based upon the media coverage of May 2019. For Prince William’s interview about his time at St Andrews University see: https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4026131.stm
Chapter 2 – Family Matters
The first-hand insights of Angela Levin’s book Harry: Conversations with the Prince (London: John Blake, 2019) have been invaluable. Caroline Davies published some well-informed speculation on the origin of Archie’s name in the Guardian for 8 May 2019. See People magazine for 20 September 2017 by Simon Perry, ‘How Prince William Trained to be King as a
