The fraternal dynamic between Prince Harry and Prince William has become the subject of increased public focus over the past four years, with the publication of Harry’s Spare memoir in 2023 providing a raw portrayal of the brothers’ complex relationship.
During the process of writing his book and in its promotion, Harry said he reflected on his relationships and life events with new insight. Many of the revelations in Spare combatted the established narrative of his life story, one of the more surprising of which was the claim that he and William had never been as close in childhood or adulthood as the palace and media portrayed.
Despite this, in an interview promoting the book, he revealed that as a father he now understands William’s past behavior, seeing the brothers’ dynamic replicated in his own two children: Prince Archie (born in 2019) and Princess Lilibet (born in 2021).
DOMINIC LIPINSKI/POOL/AFP via Getty Images/Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images
Here, Newsweek looks at what Harry said he learned about his own childhood through his children.
‘Now I Get It’
Speaking to Tom Bradby for the ITV network at the time of Spare‘s release, the prince was asked about his claim that William had told him to act as though they didn’t know one another when they were both studying at Eton College. Harry joined the school in 1998, one year after Princess Diana’s death. He was 13 and William, 16.
Harry described their relationship at the time as one of “love but also separation.”
“I talk about the relationship between William and myself at Eton and the fact that he didn’t really want to know me,” he said. “You know, as the younger brother that sucks. It’s like: ‘Come on, like you left me at Ludgrove [School] and now I’m here at Eton, like hey, now we’re at the same school, let’s go.’ He didn’t want anything to do with me. And that hurt at the time.”
Now, as a father of two small children, the prince says he has come to understand the dynamic better, though it still remains a painful memory.
“The gap between me and William is very similar to Archie and Lili,” he told Bradby.
“And to see Lili obsessed with Archie and Archie like ‘no, no Lili, I need my space, I need my space,’ now I get it.”
“I get how irritating the younger sibling can be to the older sibling. But in the moment, at the time, I didn’t. I didn’t really grasp that, I didn’t really realize it.”
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Archie will celebrate his fifth birthday on May 6, and since Harry and wife, Meghan Markle, split from the monarchy in 2020 the couple have kept both of their children largely out of the public eye.
Though providing a critical portrayal of his brother in his memoir, and with tensions between the pair reportedly still in place, Harry has maintained that his book was not written with the intention to hurt his family members and that he has “always loved my brother.”
William did not comment on Harry’s book or the claims made within it.
The last time the brothers attended a public event together was the coronation of their father, King Charles III, in May 2023.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek‘s royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek‘s The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.