Why ‘Peace Talks’ Between Prince Harry and Brother William Probably Won’t Happen

Royal watchers shouldn’t be expecting any reconciliation between Prince Harry and Prince William any time soon. As the Duke of Sussex prepares to travel home to the U.K. next month to attend the WellChild Awards ceremony and later travel to Germany for the Invictus Games, royal sources are denying rumors that the two brothers will have “peace talks” in an effort to repair their troubled relationship.

A recent report from UK’s OK! Magazine, citing an unidentified source, claimed King Charles III and Harry were set to meet for “peace talks” on Sept. 17. The source claimed that after a bit of rescheduling of his official royal events and appearances, the king was left with “a few days to spare in London to meet with his son. Staff are trying to fine-tune the details as we speak.” However, royal insiders and friends of both the monarch and William dismissed the report to The Daily Beast, in part citing the fact that Charles will likely be spending those few free days preparing for an official visit to France.

“The king loves both his sons and his door is always open to Harry,” the source said. “But I don’t think they will be meeting on Sept. 17. The king will be preparing for the state visit to France.”

A separate source cited reluctance to meet with Harry on Charles and Williams’ part due to Harry’s scathing account of the father and sons’ “secret” meeting called by Harry after Prince Philip’s funeral in June 2021, which he wrote about in the opening section of his memoir Spare. In his memoir, Harry said that while back in the U.K. for his grandfather’s funeral, he “asked for this secret meeting with my older brother, Willy, and my father to talk about the state of things.” While his father and brother agreed to the meeting, Harry said Charles and William came to the meeting “ready for a fight,” adding that his brother, whom he called his “arch-nemesis,” “didn’t want to hear anything.” He also alleged that Charles begged his sons, “Please, boys, don’t make my final years a misery.”

“He feels betrayed,” a source told The Daily Beast of William. “They were very close growing up so it has been very painful for William. But ultimately what can he do? Just look at Spare. It’s literally William’s worst nightmare. It is a total violation of his privacy. On top of that, Harry has criticized Kate and the way he is bringing up his children. It’s very, very sad. I think it is completely understandable that right now William is still absolutely disgusted by what his brother has done.”

At this time, it seems unlikely that a meeting will take place between the royal father and sons. Harry is set to travel to the U.K. to attend the WellChild Awards on Sept. 7 before then traveling to Dusseldorf, Germany for the Invictucs Games, which open on Sept. 9. There has been no official word on if he will then return to his home in California or if he will make another stop in the U.K.