Shannen Findlay
TV

Royal rift: Prince Harry confirms conflict with brother Prince William

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Prince Harry has publicly confirmed there is a growing rift between he and his big brother Prince William in a remarkably stoic documentary. 

The Duke of Sussex hinted there was a strained relationship with his elder brother in a new doco about he and his wife, Duchess Meghan. 

British journalist Tom Bradby asked the royal if there was any truth to reports of rifts with his brother. 

“Umm... part, part of this role and part of this job and part of this family being under the pressure that it’s under, inevitably, stuff happens. But look: We’re brothers, we’ll always be brothers — and we’re certainly on different paths at the moment,” he said. 

“But I’ll certainly always be there for him as I know he’ll always be there for me.

“We don’t see each other as much as we used to because we’re so busy.

“But I love him dearly and the majority of the stuff is created out of nothing. But as brothers, you have good days, you have bad days.”

Filmed across South Africa, Angola, Malawi and Botswana, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex told the British news anchor the impact of navigating through life as a “modern” royal couple. 

Duchess warned against marrying “H”

The Documentary featured Duchess Meghan admitting life over the last year has been “hard”. 

“I don’t think anybody could understand that. But in fairness, I had no idea — which probably sounds difficult to understand here. But when I first met my now-husband, my friends were really happy because I was so happy, but my British friends said to me: ‘I’m sure he’s great, but you shouldn’t do it, because the British tabloids will destroy your life.’”

“I, very naively because I’m American and we don’t have that there, (said) ‘What are you talking about? That doesn’t make any sense! I’m not in tabloids!’ I didn’t get it. So, umm... it’s been complicated.”

“Can you put up with this? Can you deal with it? Can you manage it? Can you continue with it? And what happens if you can’t?” Bradby asked.

“I’ve said for a long time to H — that’s what I call him — it’s not enough to just survive something. That’s not the point of life,” she said.

“You’ve got to thrive. You’ve got to feel happy.”

“I think I really tried to adopt this British sensibility of a stiff upper lip. I tried, I really tried, but I think what that does internally is probably really damaging. The biggest thing I know is that I never thought this would be easy, but I thought it’d be fair, and that’s the part that’s really hard to reconcile. But I don’t know... I’m taking each day as it comes.”

Prince Harry says he won’t be “bullied into playing a game that killed my mother”

The Duke of Sussex, who is an outspoken mental health advocate talked about managing his mental health despite the media scrutiny. He also touched on his mother, Princess Diana, who died in a tragic car accident in 1997. 

“It seems to be that you are under a lot of pressure. I don’t know if there’s a little bit of worry about your wife being under the same pressure as your mother was under... You’re living in this goldfish bowl, the interest is huge, the pressure is great — do you want to talk me through the last year, and where your head is at?” Bradby asked Harry, who told him he’d “hit the nail on the head.”

“I will always protect my family, and now I have a family to protect. Everything she (Diana) went through is incredibly raw, every single day — and that’s not me being paranoid, that’s just me not wanting a repeat of the past. If anybody else knew what I knew, be it a father, a husband, anyone, you’d probably be doing exactly what I do as well.”

On dealing with the media, the royal said: “It’s management, it’s constant management. I thought I was out of the woods, and then suddenly it all came back. Part of this job, and part of any job, means putting on a brave face, and turning a cheek to a lot of the stuff. But for me and for my wife, of course there’s a lot of stuff that hurts — particularly when the majority of it’s untrue.

“But all we need to do is focus on being real and being the people that we are, and standing up for what we believe in. I will not be bullied into playing a game that killed my mother.”

The new documentary comes amid news the couple is planning on taking a six-week break from the spotlight and royal duties.

A royal source told The Sunday Times: “The Duke and Duchess have a full schedule of engagements and commitments until mid-November, after which they will be taking some much-needed family time.”

It’s understood they will fly to Los Angeles next month for Thanksgiving with Meghan’s mum, Doria Ragland. 

They will then return to the UK to spend time with the Queen and the rest of the Royal Family at Sandringham for Archie’s first christmas. 

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