02 April 2024 , 10:07
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Prince William has experienced more than his fair share of personal challenges, but watching his father King Charles and his wife Kate go through cancer treatment together is likely to be one of the most difficult to date.
Alongside the health woes currently facing the Royal Family, the Prince of Wales is facing another issue that has been brewing for some time: the strained relationship with his younger brother Prince Harry. The two men, who once shared a close relationship, are still bound by many ties as siblings, but an expert has claimed that the uneasy dynamic between the brothers could lead to Princess Diana's "greatest fear" coming true.
The expert - royal author and journalist Anna Pasternak - stated that Diana had always been extremely worried that the crown itself would end up being the factor that created distance between her two sons, with the responsibilities of becoming King eventually "pulling her sons apart".
The Duke of Sussex reportedly "reached out" privately to his brother after he learned the news of Kate's cancer diagnosis shortly before the rest of the world, when the Princess of Wales released her emotional video message revealing her health difficulties and that she is undergoing a course of preventative chemotherapy.
As per The Independent, Pasternak - the author of The American Duchess: The Real Wallis Simpson - compared the brothers' relationship to that of King George VI and his elder brother Edward VIII - who abdicated the throne after less than a year. She warned there was not only a danger of history repeating itself in the House of Windsor if William and Harry were not encouraged to reconcile, but of Diana's "greatest fear" coming true.
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"Who knows if those close to the brothers behind the scenes are now lobbying for a reconciliation?" Pasternak wrote. "The tentative approaches recently have been described as having the tone of 'two wary diplomats'. It was Diana's greatest fear that William's role as king would be the thing that pulled her sons apart.
"For now, it would appear that their rancour is playing out as it did for Edward and their great-grandfather Bertie. But fate doesn't have to be sealed indefinitely, patterns don't have to be repeated and healing can come from unexpected events."
Harry has admitted to being aware of the different destinies ahead of him and his brother since childhood, writing extensively in his bestselling memoir Spare about how the dynamic of 'heir' and 'spare' informed their relationship.
In an interview promoting the memoir with Good Morning America in 2023, he also acknowledged that his mother would be "heartbroken" that relations between him and William had broken down so far. "I think she would be sad … I think she would be heartbroken that it's ended up where it's ended up," he said.
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