Update on Prince William and Prince Harry's Relationship After Surprise Birthday Message

Reconciling with Prince Harry is 'not a priority' for Prince William, according to a royal source.

By Allison Schonter

There will be no reconciliation in Prince William and Prince Harry's royal feud anytime soon, at least according one royal source. Despite William and his wife Kate Middleton's surprising birthday message to the Duke of Sussex as he turned 40 on Sept. 15, William reportedly has "no interest" in contacting his brother.

"The honest truth is that William has no interest right now in reaching out to Harry and Meghan," a source told The Daily Beast. "Understandably given Catherine's cancer diagnosis, just wants to focus on his wife and family first and his job second. There isn't space for a complicated reconciliation process with Harry. It's not a priority."

Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have been on the outs with the British royal family for years now amid a highly-publicized royal feud. Rumors of the rift first surfaced amid Harry and Meghan's high-profile exit from royal life in 2020. The couple, who relocated to California, haven't shied away from airing their grievances with royal life in the years since. In addition to their 2021 tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey, where they made numerous accusations against the British royals, Harry's 2023 memoir Spare is largely cited as contributing to the ongoing rift. The Daily Beast's sources said William "regards what Harry said in his book as unforgivable."

Despite their troubled relationship, hope for a reconciliation between the brothers was sparked when William and his wife publicly celebrated Harry's birthday with a message shared across their social media pages. However, a source said the message, which was not initialed "W & C," indicating it wasn't sent personally by the couple, "was just a company thing" that "aligned" with King Charles, who shared a similar message to mark his sin's 40th.

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"It was just a company thing. Happy birthday blah blah blah," the source explained. "It makes sense for Kensington Palace and Buckingham Palace to align themselves on a little bit of essentially routine messaging around Harry. It shows William is willing to respect his father's seniority and do what is asked of him."

The Daily Beast reports that William did not call his brother to personally wish him a happy birthday. It's unclear if Charles personally reached out to his son, but one of the king's friends said "he loves Harry and wants to be part of his and his family's life." The New York Post previously reported that it was "very like that Charles and Kate will likely phone Harry to wish him well on his birthday."

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