Princess Diana’s long-standing wish for her sons to stand united has yet to be realized, as Prince William and Prince Harry’s relationship remains strained.
“Diana always used to say she had two boys for a reason — the younger would be there to support the older in the lonely task as future king,” royal biographer Andrew Morton told PEOPLE’s cover story shared on Thursday, August 14. He added, “There is no doubt Diana would have tried to act as a peacemaker between them. If she had been around, they would have worked things out in a different way.”
The brothers once shared an unbreakable bond forged through the unique challenges of royal life — from witnessing their parents’ turbulent divorce to losing their mother in a tragic 1997 car crash when they were young. But their relationship has seemingly crumbled, with reports from sources saying that Harry’s attempts to reconnect have gone unanswered by William, 43.
In fact, Harry, 40, even previously stated he’s up for a reconciliation. “I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point in continuing to fight anymore,” he stated to BBC News back in May. “Life is precious. I don’t know how much longer my father has.”
The rift extends to their families. William and Kate Middleton’s three children — Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7 — live in Windsor, while Harry and Meghan Markle’s children, Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4, are growing up miles away in Montecito, California. According to Morton, “Things were said that sparked the initial rift, and it’s never healed.”
While the brother’s love for their late mother remains a shared foundation, the reconciliation she once envisioned still feels far out of reach — for now, anyway.