William’s shady Harry move exposed

The Prince of Wales has largely maintained a position of silence during his younger brother’s various public attacks – or has he?

After the last few years you would think we’ve talked enough about funerals, but I don’t decide the news – I just make bad puns about it.

Unusually for August, the official holiday month for Europeans and the sorts of people who know the Margrave of Baden, things have been going on.

Specifically: Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been boldly reinventing the royal tour by … doing a royal tour, King Charles made a touching trip to Southport where three young girls were murdered during a Taylor Swift dance class and Prince William’s circle would appear to have been leaking to the press like a rusty and holey sieve.

The most sensational story of the last week has, by far and away, come from the Daily Beast’s Tom Sykes, who reports that the only time that William and Harry will ever see each other again in their lifetimes will be at their father’s funeral. The source: Friends of William.

This came after another piece, also by Sykes in the Beast, which detailed how the Sussexes’ reference to the Princess of Wales as “Kate” and not “Catherine” in their public message of support after she revealed she had cancer would have “pushed William’s buttons” and was “an entirely unnecessary and deliberate irritation”. The source: A friend of William’s.

A new report claims the only time that William and Harry will ever see each other again in their lifetimes will be at their father’s funeral. Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images for Invictus Games Foundation

Prince William’s circle would appear to have been leaking to the press like a rusty and holey sieve. Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

These came hot on the heels of a bumper story from the Sunday Times’ royal editor Roya Nikkhah ahead of Harry’s upcoming 40th birthday which reported, among about 89 other bombshells, that William does “not want his brother at his coronation”, that “William is unlikely to forgive Harry any time soon for his slights against Kate in Spare” and that the view is that the Sussexes “made money from trashing [the royal] family”. The sources: Friends of William’s.

Anyone sensing a pattern here?

What’s interesting about this recent crop of stories is the regularity with which the Waleses’ friends have been speaking to the press, especially given the pasting that Harry has gotten in the past for … speaking to the press.

William himself might have said nothing, but his supporters seem to be singing like canaries warbling their hearts out to try and win a place on Australian Idol.

This is contrary to the Wales party line that they are intent on doing their best impression of Easter Island statues when it comes to Harry and will not be drawn into the tawdry muck of it all.

For the last three years, there has been a school of thought (which I don’t necessarily agree with) that goes like this: Ever since Harry sat down opposite Oprah Winfrey to aim both barrels at Buckingham Palace, the duke has sold out his family – only for the Sussexes to then accept splendiferous paydays from Netflix and Penguin Random House to do it all over again. Just call him the Benedict Arnold of baronets.

Meanwhile, William et al have been maintaining a dignified, upright position of refusing to engage with the duke and duchess’ claims.

In short: Sussexes disloyal, Windsors stoically silent and dignified. Got it?

The Princess of Wales shocked the world when she revealed she was undergoing treatment for cancer. Picture: BBC

But this recent spate of stories full of quotes from friends of the Prince of Wales don’t exactly back that very simplistic read of things up. Has Team William been playing such a straight wicket? (And have I even vaguely used that cricketing term correctly?)

Supporters of the heir to the throne have, over the last 18 months since Spare, been turning up in the UK press to wag their fingers at the Sussexes and to offer vivid and colourful descriptions of how truly, madly and deeply William “hates” his brother and how badly the Sussexes are doing the royal family wrong. (A sentiment that sounds like it should be set to the twanging of a banjo).

It might not be William actually saying any of this (it’s not like he has been ringing the Mail’s Eden with a hanky over the receiver) but can he really wash his hands of any responsibility here?

That the prince hasn’t or can’t put a stop to his friends talking brings us to a few possible conclusions, and none of them exactly tally with the William/good, Harry/bad binary read of things.

What has been credibly reported in the past is that those who are in the inner royal sanctum – and don’t want to be turfed out – adhere to a vow of silence. Staying in the Windsor good books requires knowing when to keep lips zipped – and when not to.

For example, a 2011 New York Times profile of Guy Pelly, a friend of both brothers, labelled him “a veteran of the cat-and-mouse game so furiously played [in the UK] by reporters trying to squeeze leaks from the royal entourage”. Pelly, a former nightclub owner, was “famous for never, ever, betraying his confidences”.

A friend of Camilla’s admitted Harry’s attacks ‘hurt’. Picture: Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images

Likewise, none of Kate’s actual good friends have ever, ever spoken to the press.

So when those genuinely close to senior members of the royal family speak out, it is impossible to imagine them doing so without it being sanctioned and signed off in triplicate.

Last year, ahead of the coronation, the Marchioness of Lansdowne, one of Queen Camilla’s official Companions and her best friend, gave a lengthy interview to the Times. The marchioness said of Harry’s criticism of Camilla in Spare, “Of course it bothers her, of course it hurts”. That’s got to be about as close to the horse’s mouth as we can get.

There is definitely a tit-for-tattiness here. Harry and Meghan-attached friends and sources pop up in stories all the time too, most recently when some Sussex intimates told People in late July all about how Charles will no longer take his son’s calls. But then the duke and duchess have never sanctimoniously adopted a position of nobly staying above the fray and being better than all that.

William’s hands in all this might be technically clean but … does he ever perchance look up in the bathroom mirror and have a wee Lady Macbeth moment?

The prince and the duke might only ever meet again at Charles’ funeral, but until then, their proxies can always meet on the battlefield of People.

Daniela Elser is a writer, editor and a royal commentator with more than 15 years’ experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles

Originally published as William’s shady Harry move exposed