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Prince William ‘worried’ about Harry and Meghan after the couple opened up in TV documentary

Prince William is reported to be ‘worried’ about his ‘fragile’ brother and sister-in-law.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge watch a military fly-past to mark the centenary of the Royal Air Force.
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge watch a military fly-past to mark the centenary of the Royal Air Force.

Prince William is reportedly “worried’’ about his younger brother Harry after an explosive television documentary where the Duke of Sussex revealed the two royals had grown apart.

Rumours about a growing chasm between the sons of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana have been rife ever since Harry married the American actress Meghan Markle in 2018. Harry recently split from William’s household, Kensington Palace.

In an ITV News documentary of his recent royal tour of Africa, the Duke of Sussex said he would “always love” Prince William but signalled they had grown apart.

MORE: Harry: William and I are on different paths

The BBC reported on Monday that the Duke of Cambridge — the second-in-line to the British throne — hoped his brother and his wife Meghan were “alright” and that there is a view in Kensington Palace that the couple are in “a fragile place”

There had been reports earlier in the day that William was “furious” about his brother’s TV revelations. Kensington Palace would not officially comment

In the revealing ITV program, Prince Harry said he and his brother were on “different paths” and admitted occasional tension in their relationship.

The Duke of Sussex, 35, has been plagued by rumours of a growing rift between him and 37-year-old William, and he acknowledged that “inevitably stuff happens” given their high-profile roles in the royal family.

In the interview, filmed during his recent tour of southern Africa with his wife Meghan, Harry said: “We are brothers. We will always be brothers.

Prince Harry responds to rumours of a rift with his brother Prince William (ITV)

“We are certainly on different paths at the moment but I will always be there for him as I know he will always be there for me.

“We don’t see each other as much as we used to because we are so busy but I love him dearly.

“The majority of the stuff is created out of nothing but as brothers, you know, you have good days, you have bad days.”

William and Harry’s close bond was cemented in the aftermath of their mother’s shock death aged 36 in a 1997 Paris car crash during a paparazzi pursuit.

Prince Harry says his mother Diana’s death is ‘a wound that festers’ (ITV)

But while William is one day destined for the throne, Harry — sixth in line and now with his own wife and baby — has begun to strike out on his own.

This year the brothers split their joint offices and charitable foundation and no longer live in close proximity.

Harry and Meghan married in May 2018 and their son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor was born in May this year.

Meghan, who has also been rumoured to have feuded with William’s wife Kate, said her British friends had warned her not to marry Harry.

“The British tabloids will destroy your life,” she said they told her. The former US actress, 38, has faced an increasingly hostile press.

Meghan warned British tabloids will ‘destroy your life’

The couple launched legal action this month against British tabloid The Mail on Sunday for alleged invasion of privacy over a letter to her father. It came with a stinging statement from Harry about general tabloid coverage.

Harry is also suing two newspaper groups over alleged voicemail interception, or phone hacking.

Asked if Meghan was facing the same media pressures as Diana, Harry replied: “I have a family to protect.

“I will not be bullied into playing a game that killed my mum.”

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend a service marking the centenary of WW1 armistice at Westminster Abbey.
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend a service marking the centenary of WW1 armistice at Westminster Abbey.

Meghan said she had tried to adopt a British “stiff upper lip” but thinks it is internally “really damaging”.

“It’s not enough to just survive something, that’s not the point of life. You have got to thrive.” Asked if she was “not really OK” and life had “really been a struggle”, she replied simply: “Yes.”

Meghan told ITV she was merely pursuing the publication of a letter to her father printed in the Mail on Sunday because she wanted the press to be “fair”.

Meanwhile Harry, who has been open about his own past mental health struggles emanating from Diana’s death, said: “It’s constant management. I thought I was out of the woods, and then suddenly it all came back.”

The couple are going to take six weeks off work.

Harry & Meghan: An African Journey: ‘Not many people have asked if I'm okay’ (ITV)

During the interview, Harry said that he would like to live in Africa but finding the right place would be difficult.

His grandmother Queen Elizabeth II is the head of the Commonwealth and made Harry her youth ambassador for the 53-country grouping, which includes 19 African states.

“The rest of our lives’ work will be predominantly focused on Africa, on conservation,” said Harry. “I don’t know where we could live in Africa at the moment.

“We have just come from Cape Town — that would be an amazing place to be able to base ourselves, of course it would, but with all the problems that are going on there, I just don’t see how we would be able to really make as much difference as we want to.”

The royal couple have become divisive figures in Britain for their political activism on issues like climate change and rumours over their relations with both the wider royal family and royal staff.

With AFP

Harry and Meghan: An African Journey airs on Network 10 tonight at 7.30pm

Read related topics:Harry And Meghan
Richard Ferguson
Richard FergusonNational Chief of Staff

Richard Ferguson is the National Chief of Staff for The Australian. Since joining the newspaper in 2016, he has been a property reporter, a Melbourne reporter, and regularly penned Cut and Paste and Strewth. Richard – winner of the 2018 News Award Young Journalist of the Year – has covered the 2016, 2019 and 2022 federal polls, the Covid-19 pandemic, and he was on the ground in London for Brexit and Boris Johnson's 2019 UK election victory.

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/prince-william-worried-about-harry-and-meghan-after-the-couple-opened-up-in-tv-documentary/news-story/9343c7c5919a4ee28eb8a7f631467217