Prince Harry’s remark that male royals were subject to “a temptation or an urge to marry someone who would fit the mould—as opposed to somebody who you perhaps are destined to be with” infuriated his brother, Prince William, who saw it as a despicable attack on his wife.
Harry made the remark in the Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan.
According to a new book by royal author Robert Hardman, The Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy (titled Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story in the U.K.) the “clear inference” that he was referring to William and Kate left William appalled. The book is being serialized by the Daily Mail.
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“On top of all the other breaches of trust, here was Harry making a blatant attack on Catherine. For William, this was the lowest of the low,” one source is quoted as saying.
William is described as being “mortified by the casual betrayal of so many fraternal secrets” in Harry’s memoir, Spare, and neither he nor Kate have read the book, instead receiving briefings from aides on key points.
One of his staffers says that William has said of the affair: “Whatever the rights and wrongs, I hope that people feel I behaved properly in keeping my counsel.”
The palace fear that there may be either “a sequel [to Spare] or, perhaps, a memoir by Meghan in due course.”
King Charles is said to have learned how to “compartmentalise” issues such as the rift with his son.
One friend is quoted as saying: “Of course the king is extremely sad about Harry and Meghan but there is a sense of exasperation, that he has done what he can and now he is king, there are many more things to think about… He has tried listening. Now he just says, ‘I don't want to know what the problem is. I’m just getting on with my life.’”
A source described as a senior official says: “You’d always like your child back. But when your child has decided that, at the moment, they want to do things differently, you have to give them the space to do that. The door is always open, though.”
