‘Like a brother’: William’s unexpected ally amid Harry rift

The Prince of Wales has grown closer to another member of the royal family amid his ongoing public rift with Prince Harry.

It’s no secret that Prince William and Prince Harry have been at increasing odds – but amid their ongoing tension, another royal has been described as “like a brother” to the future King.

According to Tatler, the Prince of Wales, 41, has been leaning on his older cousin, Peter Phillips, 46, during recent rocky times, with their close relationship on display at this week’s Buckingham Palace Garden Party.

With the Princess of Wales on an extended break due to her cancer treatment, a solo William hosted the event on behalf of his father, but was supported by his cousins, including Princess Anne’s son, Peter.

William hosted a Buckingham Palace Garden Party this week. Picture: Yui Mok/Pool/AFP

Peter Phillips was on hand for support. Picture: Yui Mok/Pool/AFP/Getty Images

Royal insiders have previously told the UK’s Telegraph how the eldest Windsor cousin has been William’s confidante over the last few years.

“He’s always been that sort of slightly older brother to William, ever more so since Harry moved to America,” the source said.

Peter was full of praise for both William and Kate during an interview with Sky News Australia following the announcement of her diagnosis.

“Her and William make a fantastic team together. Their kids are great, and they have the balance of public life and trying to be parents to three young children, which is always difficult,” he said.

“I think, as history has taught us, and anyone knows, you actually want to be there for your children when they’re of a certain age. You want to be able to go drop them off at school and pick them up from school and go and watch matches and be a part of their school lives.

“And I think that balance of doing the family life and also the public life, I think they’ve pretty much got that, bang on.”

Peter (left) gushed over the Wales’ in a recent interview - but was said to be “horrified” by Harry’s Oprah interview. Picture: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

It was also previously reported that Peter was left “horrified” by Harry and Meghan Markle’s bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview in 2021, which aired just a month before Prince Philip died.

In what was understood to be a diplomatic move as tensions flared between Harry and William in the weeks that followed, Peter was then chosen to walk between the estranged brothers during the funeral procession.

Peter walked between the brothers at the funeral procession. Pictture: Gareth Fuller/WPA Pool/Getty Images

Despite being the King’s nephew, Peter – whose parents opted to forgo his royal title at birth in a bid for more normalcy – lives a relatively low-key life compared with his famous relatives.

In an appearance on Good Morning Britain back in 2016, Peter spoke about the “great fun” the cousins had growing up together.

“We had great fun growing up on our holidays, going to stay with [Queen Elizabeth II] at Sandringham, Balmoral and Windsor and we were incredibly lucky,” he said.

“There was quite a gang of us growing up in that age and it was a lot of fun. We caused quite a bit of mayhem and chaos but, fortunately, I don’t think we broke too much.”

Originally published as ‘Like a brother’: William’s unexpected ally amid Harry rift