They were once as close as two brothers can be. But the relationship between Prince William and Prince Harry now lies in tatters.
The royal siblings are all but estranged following Harry's public criticisms of the monarchy and his family, with William said to have no interest in a reconciliation - despite the Sussexes' recent move back to Britain.
The future King is said to be especially upset by Harry's decision to publicly air all his grievances - including one assertion that William had "broken a pact" the brothers once made.
Harry made the claim in the Sussexes' Netflix series, released in December 2022.
Prince Harry's claims
Speaking about the royal family's relationship with the press, he said: "There's leaking, but there's also planting, of sorts.
"So if the comms team want to be able to remove a negative story about their principal, they will trade and give you something about someone else's principal. So the offices end up working against each other."
© Getty ImagesHarry continued: "William and I both saw what happened in our dad [King Charles III]'s office, and we made an agreement that we would never let that happen to our office.
"I would far rather get destroyed in the press than play along with this game or business of trading," he added. "And to see my brother’s office doing the same thing that we promised the two of us would never, ever do, that was heartbreaking."
A broken pact
In an interview with Michael Strahan in January 2023, the Duke again spoke of his "pact" with William.
"The people that he employed broke that," he said. "But again, within the family, it's hard because you are led to believe that if you don't play the game, that you will be destroyed. And again, I'm the one who's proving that that is true, right? Chose not to play the game, but they're trying to destroy me."
© Getty ImagesSpare claims
Writing in his tell-all memoir Spare, Harry also opened up about conflicts between the royal family's teams. He alleged there was a rivalry between Charles and Camilla and William and Kate, based on the younger couple's popularity.
He claimed: "Pa and Camilla didn't want Willy and Kate getting loads of publicity. Pa and Camilla didn't like Willy and Kate drawing attention away from them or their causes. They'd openly scolded Willy about it many times.
© UK Press via Getty Images"Case in point: Pa's press officer berated Willy's team when Kate was scheduled to visit a tennis club on the same day Pa was doing an engagement.
"Told that it was too late to cancel the visit, Pa's press officer warned: Just make sure the Duchess doesn't hold a tennis racquet in any of the photos!"
Calls with William
Harry also recalled a phone conversation between him and his brother in April 2019 in which William allegedly spoke of his frustration.
"I gathered that Pa and Camilla’s people had planted a story or stories about him and Kate, and the kids, and he wasn’t going to take it anymore.
"'Give Pa and Camilla an inch,' he said, 'they take a mile. They’ve done this to me for the last time.'" Relating to William's feelings, he added: "I got it. They’d done the same to me and Meg as well.
© Getty"But it wasn't them, technically, it was the most gung-ho member of Pa's comms team, a true believer who'd devised and launched a new campaign of getting good press for Pa and Camilla at the expense of bad press for us.
"For some time this person had been peddling unflattering stories, fake stories, about the Heir and Spare, to all the papers."
The 'bullying' denial
Harry's issues with the British press are common knowledge and have resulted in very public court battles.
His decision to leave the UK for good seemed to be cemented when The Times ran a story reporting that the rift between the brothers was caused by William's "bullying."
© Getty ImagesA statement was quickly released - presented as a joint message from Harry and William. It read: "Despite clear denials, a false story ran in a U.K. newspaper today speculating about the relationship between The Duke of Sussex and The Duke of Cambridge.
"For brothers who care so deeply about the issues surrounding mental health, the use of inflammatory language in this way is offensive and potentially harmful."
But in episode 5 of Harry & Meghan, Harry recalled, "A story came out saying that part of the reason why Meg and I were leaving was because William had bullied us out. And once I got in the car after the meeting, I was told about a joint statement that had been put out, in my name and my brother's name, squashing the story about him bullying us out of the family."
"We couldn't believe it," he continued. "No one had asked me permission to put my name to a statement like that. And I rang M and I told her and she burst into floods of tears because within four hours, they were happy to lie to protect my brother. And yet, for three years, they were never willing to tell the truth to protect us."
© Photo: Netflix"Suddenly, what clicked in my head was, 'It's never gonna stop,' " said Meghan. "Every rumour, every negative thing, every lie, everything that I knew wasn't true and that the palace knew wasn't true and internally they knew wasn't true, that was just being allowed to fester."
"So there was no other option at this point," Harry added. "I said, 'We need to get out of here.'"
Reconciliation?
Harry and Meghan touched down in Birmingham just over a week ago to start their new life in England. They have enrolled their two children in school and are believed to have set up home in the Cotswolds.
The move is said to have blindsided the royal family, with the King only told the news a short time earlier.
It has, of course, led to renewed speculation about their relationship with his family. While Charles is said to be happy to have the opportunity to see his grandchildren more regularly, it's shone the spotlight on whether William will reunite with his brother.
© Samir Hussein/WireImageRobert Jobson, author of The Windsor Legacy, told HELLO! he believes that William and wife Kate will "rise above all this", adding: "I don't think they're going to be involved in a tit for tat."
Instead, he thinks the future king and queen will focus even more on their royal responsibilities. "William will take the lead, but it's going to be a team effort. So I think they're very focused on what's ahead of them," he said.
"I think that they'll probably think, 'Well, we've been down this road before; It creates a circus and we're not going to get involved.'"
