SHE was once dubbed the 'peacemaker' and believed to be instrumental in helping heal royal rifts.
But Kate Middleton’s relationship with her brother-in-law Prince Harry is now so damaged that she won’t be the one to “hold out an olive branch” in time for Christmas, a royal expert has revealed.
The Princess of Wales has been spotted in the past helping her husband Prince William heal his feud with brother Harry following Prince Phillip’s funeral in 2021.
But now, after a string of “hurtful” and “upsetting” personal attacks unleashed by Harry, Kate, 41, is “taking a step back” and won’t be making up with him any time soon.
Royal commentator Jennie Bond exclusively told Fabulous: “Catherine was deeply hurt by some of the things Harry said about her, particularly in his book, and unfortunately because of these entrenched positions where neither side seems to want to make contact or the first move, I can’t see this rift healing any time soon.
“Catherine has played the peacemaker in the past and has brought William and Harry together, and I think that comes from her own family, and their values.
"But I think she has got to a stage whereby she has had to take a step back, things have gone too far, and she feels upset and, quite frankly, hurt and insulted.”
In his autobiography, Spare, Harry, 39, claimed his sister in law was “disgusted” when wife Meghan used her lip gloss.
The 39-year-old prince also went into detail about the infamous row over Princess Charlotte’s bridesmaid dress when he married Meghan, 42, in 2018. And in a further break in Kate’s trust, Harry revealed how a row between the two women broke out after Meghan suggested a then pregnant Kate had “baby brain.’
And now, despite months passing since the release of his book, Jennie says the trio’s positions haven’t changed and that she doesn't expect a family reconciliation in time for Christmas.
She said: “I think Catherine was hurt by Harry (and Meghan’s) claim that she made Meghan cry during a fitting for Charlotte’s bridesmaid dress, and again by Meghan’s view, which was relayed by Harry, that she found Catherine and William standoffish, a bit cold, when they first met.
"After all, we have seen that Catherine is more than ready to give people a hug - even people she has no connection with and will never see again.
“We must remember that Harry once described Catherine as the sister he never had. Now it seems she is the sister in law he no longer wants to see.”
Jennie says that Kate has not only been hurt by the personal attacks on herself, but those aimed at her husband and the wider royal family too.
She said: “I think Catherine has been badly hurt by Harry’s brutal attacks on William, like his decision to reveal so much of what went on during their disagreements, and by the claim that someone in the royal family questioned the tone of unborn Archie’s skin, it was such a generalised claim that it hurt the whole family.
“I think Catherine and William have jointly decided that they will carry on with family life and work, and for most of the time, they don’t think about Harry very much, and I expect vice versa.
"I can’t see an olive branch being extended from either side any time soon.”
