Prince Harry remains effectively estranged from his family six years after the first signs of an impassable rift began to emerge—despite opportunities to heal.
The duke told Anderson Cooper in January 2023 he no longer speaks to William and his relationship with Charles has also been low key at best in recent years.
However, there have been many moments when royal fans hoped there was light at the end of the tunnel for royal relations.
Crisis Talks With Prince William and Princess Kate
The first sign that early tensions between Harry and Meghan and the royals might be escalating into a long term, intractable problem came in June 2018, a month after the Sussexes' wedding.
There had been disagreements, including over Princess Charlotte's bridesmaid's dress and Prince Harry's beard, but the two couples sat down together to try to talk it out.
The meeting, however, became heated after Kate suggested Meghan had hurt her feelings by describing her as having baby brain while she was pregnant with Prince Louis, according to Harry's book Spare.
"You talked about my hormones," Kate is quoted as saying "We're not close enough for you to talk about my hormones!"
"I'm sorry I talked about your hormones," Meghan replied. "That's just how I talk with my girlfriends."
Harry wrote: "Willy pointed at Meg. 'It's rude, Meghan. It's not what's done here in Britain.'"
"Kindly take your finger out of my face," Meghan replied.
Harry said they hugged at the end of the argument but went on to describe in his book how the shared office at Kensington Palace developed a poisoned atmosphere which William blamed on Meghan.
Prince William Gets Physical With Harry
William went to Harry's home at Nottingham Cottage in 2019 in an effort to resolve months of conflict but the discussion became even more heated.
So much so in fact that it got physical, with the future king bundling his younger brother into a dog bowl, breaking his necklace in the process.
Spare read: "He just went all in. Chips to the center of the table. 'Meg's difficult,' he said. 'Oh, really?'
"'She's rude. She's abrasive. She's alienated half the staff.' Not the first time he'd parroted the press narrative. Duchess Difficult, all that b*******."
"He set down the water, called me another name, then came at me," Harry continued. "It all happened so fast. So very fast. He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor.
"I landed on the dogs' bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me. I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out."
Prince Harry and Prince William's 72-Hour Text Argument
In October 2019, Harry became choked up at an award ceremony on camera causing a concerned Prince William to reach out.
The pair thrashed out their differences over text messages but could not find common ground.
Harry wrote in his book: "I thanked him for his concern, assured him I was fine. I'd become emotional in front of a roomful of sick kids and their folks just after becoming a father myself—nothing abnormal in that.
"He said I wasn't well. He said again that I needed help."
"I worked hard at keeping my texts to him civil," Harry continued. "Nonetheless, the exchange turned into an argument, which stretched over seventy-two hours. Back and forth we went, all day, late into the night—we'd never had a fight like that over text before.
"Angry, but also miles apart, as if we were speaking different languages. Now and then I realized that my worst fear was coming true: after months of therapy, after working hard to become more aware, more independent, I was a stranger to my older brother. He could no longer relate to me—tolerate me."
Prince Philip's Funeral
Ultimately, Harry and Meghan quit in January 2020 and began a new life in America that spring but it was not long before tensions began to escalate again.
Meghan's lawyers filed a court document in July 2020 accusing Kensington Palace of leaving her "unprotected" while "pregnant" and a high grade royal source began giving information to the tabloid she was suing, The Mail on Sunday.
The royals stripped Harry and Meghan of their royal patronages in February and the couple did their bombshell sit down interview with Oprah Winfrey in March, 2021.
Just a month later though, Prince Philip passed away and Harry returned to Britain for the funeral.
It was billed in the British media as an opportunity for reconciliation and the two princes did talk privately, with their father mediating. However, again, they did not succeed in breaking the deadlock.
Harry wrote: "Pa and Willy had their parts to play, and they'd come ready for a fight. Every time I ventured a new explanation, started a new line of thought, one or both of them would cut me off. Willy in particular didn't want to hear anything.
"After he'd shut me down several times, he and I began sniping, saying some of the same things we'd said for months—years. It got so heated that Pa raised his hands. 'Enough!'
"He stood between us, looking up at our flushed faces: 'Please, boys—don't make my final years a misery.'"
William is quoted as saying: "Harold, you must listen to me! I just want you to be happy, Harold. I swear … I swear on Mummy's life."
Harry wrote that the reference to Princess Diana was like a secret code but added: "It stopped me cold, as it was meant to. Not because he'd used it, but because it didn't work. I simply didn't believe him, didn't fully trust him. And vice versa. He saw it too."
Princess Diana's Statue Unveiling
Harry and William saw each other again in July 2021 when they unveiled a statue in Princess Diana's honor on what would have been her 60th birthday.
The brothers walked into the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace side by side and jointly pulled the tarpaulin cover off the statue.
Again, the media hoped it would bring peace to the brother's, who might unite in their mother's memory, but it was not to be.
Tea With Charles and Queen Camilla
Harry returned to Britain, this time with Meghan Markle, in April 2022, on his way to the Invictus Games, his tournament for wounded veterans, which was in The Hague, in the Netherlands.
They had tea with Queen Elizabeth II and also met Charles and Camilla, with royal author Katie Nicholl stating in her book, The New Royals, that Harry suggested mediation.
However, by the time Harry was interviewed by Hoda Kotb on Today out in Holland he would not answer a question about whether he missed his father and brother, choosing instead to pivot to his focus on the families at the Invictus Games.
"I mean … at the moment, I'm here focused on these guys [at the Invictus Games] and these families and giving everything I can, 120 percent to them to make sure that they have the experience of a lifetime," he said. "That's my focus here."
"And when I leave here," he continued, "I go back, and my focus is my family, who I miss massively. Of course I do. They're [Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet] two little people."
Queen Elizabeth II's Funeral
The royals were plunged into mourning in September 2022, after the queen died and Harry, Meghan, William and Kate put on a show of unity for the first time in years.
Once nicknamed the "fab four" in the British press, they jointly inspected floral tributes at Windsor Castle on September 10.
Days later, William and Harry would take part in a vigil in honor of Elizabeth and they joined a procession together at her funeral, when Meghan also stood with Kate and Queen Camilla.
If any progress was made, it was quickly lost when, three months later, Harry and Meghan were scathing of the royals in their Netflix documentary that December and Harry 's book in the January.
Prince Harry's Mercy Mission for the King
The prince returned to Britain at short notice in February 2024, after his father announced that he had been diagnosed with cancer.
It was, however, a flying visit which saw the pair spend less than an hour talking before the king flew by helicopter to Sandringham, the royal family's retreat in the East of England. Harry, seemingly, did not get an invite.
Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about Charles and Queen Camilla, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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