The Gist
The former butler of King Charles is shedding new light on the current status Prince William and Prince Harry’s royal rift.
In an interview with The Mirror, Grant Harrold warned that “we may never see them as a united family in public.”
Harrold served the royal household for over six years and recently authored a book about his experience titled The Royal Butler: My Remarkable Life of Royal Service.
Prince William and Prince Harry have been feuding for the better part of five years, and, according to the former butler of King Charles, there may be little hope that the two will ever reconcile. Grant Harrold served the royal household for over six years and is the newly minted author of The Royal Butler: My Remarkable Life of Royal Service, which drops on August 28.
“Things are such a mess right now,” Harrold told The Mirror with regard to the two brothers. “I think we have to accept that there is a real possibility that we may never see them as a united family in public.”
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Prince William and Prince Harry carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.
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Prince William and Prince Harry at ‘The City Salute’ at St. Paul’s Cathedral in 2008.
The former butler noted that William and Harry were “inseparable” following Princess Diana’s death, so much so that he would have “bet £100” that they would never have a falling out.
“And when all the conflict really started, I was asking myself ‘Why has this all gone so badly wrong?’ I couldn‘t wrap my head around it,” Harrold recalled. “Now they’re not even speaking to each other, and they used to speak all the time. It’s really sad.”
William and Harry’s royal rift became public knowledge in late 2019, when the Duke of Sussex confirmed that “stuff” had happened between him and his brother. “We’re certainly on different paths at the moment, but I’ll always be there for him, as I know he’ll always be there for me,” he told ITV News.
The chasm widened after Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, stepped down from senior royal duties in early 2020. The brothers have scarcely seen each other since then.
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Kate Middleton, Prince William, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle in 2022.
As for Harrold, he believes some kind of reconciliation is still possible, albeit only in private. “I don’t see Harry and Meghan ever on the Palace balcony for Trooping the Color for example, but I can see the family patching things up behind closed doors and working towards the King seeing his grandchildren,” he told The Mirror. “I think that’s what they’re trying to work towards. I think they could be thinking ‘Let’s just be a family behind closed doors and move on from this rift from our point of view, not from the public’s point of view.'”
Read the original article on InStyle