The Mirror’s royal editor Russell Myers has written the first joint biography of the Prince and Princess of Wales in over a decade
The Princess of Wales, who served for years as the voice of reason during the conflicts between Prince William and Prince Harry, finally decided she can do no more to reconcile the pair.
As detailed in the third instalment of an exclusive four-part serialisation in The Mirror, this decision represents a significant shift in the royal family’s internal dynamics.
After years of dedicated attempts to heal the relationship, Catherine’s withdrawal from the peacemaker role signals a major change in the approach to the ongoing division.
The departure of the Sussexes left both William and Catherine with added reason for concern, as the Prince of Wales felt intense sadness regarding his brother’s decision to quit. While the siblings had been drifting apart for several years, the serialisation notes that William knew deep down there would be no turning back from this particular fracture, the Mirror reports.
The conclusion of Catherine’s efforts as a mediator highlights a point of no return for the brothers’ relationship following years of domestic and public upheaval.
The fracture was deepened by the departure of the Sussexes, a move that left both William and Catherine with added reason to be nervous. The Prince of Wales reportedly felt an intense sadness over his brother’s decision to quit his royal role. Although the siblings had been drifting apart for several years, the serialisation reveals that William knew deep down that this particular break represented a point of no return.
The division has tarnished fond childhood memories of the pair growing up in the public eye and helping each other through the tragedy of their mother’s death, leaving the family at a permanent crossroads.
As an ‘outsider’, Catherine had witnessed the deterioration of William and Harry’s relationship. She had seen Harry and Meghan become ever more bitter at having to follow the rules of a hierarchical and hereditary monarchy, until they felt as if they could follow them no longer.
(However,) Catherine had less interest than her husband in trying to persuade Harry to stay in his current role. She believed William and Harry’s fundamental differences as the ‘heir and the spare’ had created the inevitability of Harry wanting more from his role than being a bit-part player.
What had started as a loosely formulated launch pad for their ideas would, over time, have to become more structured. This shift suited William’s mindset. He believed that the royal family had to evolve in order to stay relevant. The institution could not afford to repeat the same tried and trusted methods of members of the family backing causes or turning up to the odd charity event. They had to be effecting change.
However, this resulted in conflict around a perceived landgrab. For years William had shown an interest in the environment and conservation, especially across Africa, and was keen to follow in the footsteps of both his father and grandfather.
It was an area that William felt a deep passion for, it connected his love of the countryside to the wider environment, and was somewhere he could use his profile to push for change.
Again, Harry regarded this as confrontational. “You don’t just get Africa”, Harry told William in one meeting at St James’s Palace.
Not long before the story broke, Harry had plucked up the courage to share his secret. She (Meghan) had pulled off a perfect curtsy to the Queen and managed to charm William, even if he felt a little awkward receiving a hug on arrival. Catherine described Meghan as “friendly”, albeit erring on the side of somewhat over-friendly, with a ‘touch of California’ about her.
Yet the course of true love never did run smooth and the onslaught of the media interest changed things overnight.
The granular details of Meghan’s life were suddenly Fleet Street currency, and the boundaries of taste and decency became blurred. Harry’s reaction was furious and swift. Without consulting his father or brother, as the hierarchy would normally dictate, he instructed the Kensington Palace communications team to respond at once – highlighting “a wave of abuse and harassment … the racial undertones of comment pieces”.
The media’s tone may have dampened, but the interest in their relationship did not. Harry was infuriated that his father and brother admonished him for his rash actions, and the tense conversations left Harry astounded that his own kin were refusing to offer their support.
This period did indeed mark an outward shift in their relations. Suddenly it was harder to get them in the same room, each giving various excuses as to why they could not – or perhaps would not – be available to engage with meetings together.
William warned his brother about the speed at which the relationship had progressed, urging him to take his time. Lovestruck, he was in no mood to listen.
A source said: “It’s easy to forget now, given everything that has gone on, but William did find Meghan quite refreshing at first. He was genuinely happy for Harry and only wanted the best for him.
“Meghan made him happy and if she had been prepared to take a chance on their relationship, then he certainly would have never stood in their way. If there was one thing he was uneasy about, it was a clash of styles.
“He definitely saw it as a potential problem on the horizon.”
Meghan and Catherine were two women from incredibly different worlds and very different backgrounds.
Meghan had crafted a successful career for herself, while Catherine had essentially had one job. Perhaps two if you count working for the family business.
They did not dress in the same way or act in the same way. But despite this – and at first the contrast between the two women was largely contrived by the media – Catherine was willing to give Meghan a chance.
She adored Harry and had urged William to maintain his relationship with his brother despite their growing differences. Catherine and Sophie, the then Countess of Wessex and now Duchess of Edinburgh, had attempted to assist Meghan as she assimilated into royal life, but their “repeated attempts” were not responded to.
Meghan became a target on social media owing to her biracial heritage and Harry demanded that action be taken. Royal aides informed him they were powerless to act, so he turned his attention to the royal protection teams funded by the Home Office. When told any such protection would not be provided until after he and Meghan were married, Harry was incredulous and appealed to his father and brother to intervene.
The Prince of Wales insisted he could not become involved in a government decision, especially one where any costs would be footed by taxpayers, but Harry was well aware that Catherine had not only received unofficial guidance from the palace when merely his brother’s girlfriend, but that she had also qualified for round-the-clock protection as soon as they became engaged.
One rule for him and another for me, Harry thought.
Prince Charles’s decision was final, though, and William’s subsequent unwillingness to help sparked a row that ignited a long-running and ugly feud.
William and Catherine were fearful not only of the effect on team morale, but also their capacity to work with Harry and Meghan moving forward. “In one camp you had the people who cared, wanted those working in the household to enjoy themselves while working there, and on the other side it was something different every day. Nothing was ever good enough, there were constant complaints. It was exhausting.”
Catherine, who had so long been a voice of reason in the brothers’ previous squabbles, decided she could do no more to bring them together.
At first she had thought William and Harry’s squabbles were rooted in immaturity or stubbornness, on both sides, but Harry and Meghan’s attitude towards palace staff, who she and William cared about, set the couples on an entirely different course. Following Harry and Meghan’s wedding, things were undeniably different.
William and Catherine felt the Sussexes had ‘an agenda’.
“They definitely thought the Sussexes’ behaviour stemmed from something more than being difficult.
“The whole atmosphere between them was pretty toxic”, a source said. ‘Meghan was being bullish, Kate found her abrasive. She saw the inevitability of the parting of ways, although perhaps not to the extent of what eventually happened.”
Sources close to William and Catherine suggest the couple became even more deeply concerned for Harry and Meghan’s welfare after watching the documentary. A source close to William suggested he had also attempted to help his brother, saying: “He (William) felt as though somewhere down the line, perhaps it is impossible to even say when, that he lost his brother.
“He became paranoid, angry, obsessive and firmly rooted in the past. There’s no doubt, at that time at least, there was a lot of love and support available for Harry.”
In the aftermath of Harry and Meghan’s Oprah interview, the Sussexes’ version of how the family and the institution had conspired against them, had created a siege mentality in the palace. Harry’s presence at the funeral just ensured these feelings stayed fresh in everyone’s minds.
William and Catherine were both wounded by the numerous accusations and the presentation of Harry and Meghan’s ‘truth’. William was most aggrieved by Harry’s assertion that he was “trapped” in the system, while Catherine felt deeply let down over Meghan’s disclosure of a private exchange, which sparked claim and counterclaim regarding the fitting of dresses before the Sussexes’ 2018 wedding.
It compounded, in Catherine’s mind, a key difference between her and Meghan, who she no longer believed she could trust.
A source said: “She (Catherine )was very clear that any engagement with Harry or Meghan should be with the utmost of caution because it was obvious that they weren’t to be trusted.”
Extracted from WILLIAM AND CATHERINE by RUSSELL MYERS, published by Ebury Spotlight on 26th February at £22. Copyright © Russell Myers 2025. William and Catherine: The Intimate Inside Story is available to pre-order now.
