Harry and William to call it a day for their double act

Marriage, family life and changing royal roles are leading the brothers to set up separate courts after Meghan gives birth.

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry. Picture: Getty

They have long appeared to be the closest of brothers, bonded in tragedy and an inseparable element in the worldwide appeal of the royal family. Yet the pressures of monarchy, marriage and their diverging royal roles are presenting new challenges for dukes of Cambridge and Sussex.

Princes William, 36, and Harry, 34, are considering a formal division of their joint royal household, which is based at Kensington Palace, and the creation of separate courts to reflect their increasingly different responsibilities.

A source close to William and Harry said: “The brothers have leant on each other and looked after each other since their mother died. But now they have their own families, they no longer rely on each other as before.”

While Harry and Meghan’s status as roving royal ambassadors has been assured by their successful tour

of Australia, Fiji and Tonga, William must prepare to become the next Prince of Wales. Another source who knows the brothers well said: “There is a gulf in the style and approach to the type of work that William and Kate will increasingly do as future head of state and consort, and Harry and Meghan, who have more of a blank canvas with their roles.”

The creation of separate courts may take place next year, after Meghan gives birth to the couple’s first child, which is due in the spring. The Sussexes are expected to leave their two-bedroom home at Nottingham Cottage, in the grounds of Kensington Palace, and may choose to move into the main palace or find a new royal residence.

Even if the brothers remain Kensington neighbours, the management of their household is likely to be split.

“When William becomes the Prince of Wales, he will take on a lot of extra responsibility, including the Duchy of Cornwall and all that entails,” a source said. “Harry and Meghan have none of that, and seem ambitious about forging their own paths.”

The Sussexes are believed to be determined to bring up their child as “normally” as possible, while the Cambridge children will inevitably remain a focus of intense public scrutiny.

“If you have one private office trying to manage both, things get difficult,” the source added. “William and Harry’s double act has naturally been supplanted by the two couples and their families.”

The brothers and their wives will continue to work together on their charitable royal foundation, which supports mental health, veterans, conservation and vulnerable young people.

It is not the first time the princes have reorganised the management of their duties. They split away from Prince Charles’s court at Clarence House in 2009, creating their own private office, originally based at St James’s Palace.

Charles still funds the princes’ official royal work from income from the Duchy of Cornwall. He is known to want

a “slimmed down” monarchy that

would focus on “core” family members. While he sees Harry and Meghan as part of that core, the question of future funding for royal family members remains potentially problematic, as Charles is considered unlikely to want to pay for separate households for his sons.

Last year, the amount he spent on William, Harry and their wives rose by 40 per cent, due mainly to a rising number of official engagements and costs associated with Meghan’s arrival into the royal family.

The source close to the brothers said: “They have become different people with different outlooks on life. Splitting the household is the obvious thing to do.”

Kensington Palace declined to comment.

— The Times