Two principles: one destined to the throne and the other to the role of “reserve heir”. Once inseparable, today very distant. But what was it that divided William and Harry, brothers united today in the war? It really was Meghan Markle the cause of Harry’s escape from Buckingham Palace’s gilded prison? Could the influence of a woman alone crumble the relationship between two brothers who appeared inseparable for thirty years, united in the name of mother Diana? Or was it something else? That anxiety for freedom inherited from his mother that drove the Duke of Sussex overseas? To answer these questions now is Antonio Capraricathe greatest Italian expert of the Windsor family, in his new essay William & Harry, in bookstores for Sperling & Kupfer, which tells the story of the war between the two brothers and the future of the Crown.
Let’s start from the end, as you saw Harry and William during the Platinum Jubilee, which is the last public occasion together?
“The Jubilee was a huge success for the royal family and for the queen. You confirmed that in Britain at the moment, with such a weak prime minister, there is only one power: the throne. The monarchy came out of the celebrations in the best way. The British look to Elizabeth as their only guide. After all, she was an excellent sovereign, always loyal to her duties. As for the relationship between the two brothers, the picture still seems to be very gray. There hasn’t been a single public moment the two have been together. It seems they met in private, but with negative results. The Cambridge also skipped the Sussex baby’s birthday. In short, a disaster ».
For thirty years, however, the two have been very close. What held them together?
“The bond between Harry and William has long been Diana’s brightest legacy. The strength of the British monarchy was based, at least in large part, on the fact that one day Diana’s son would ascend the throne and her beloved brother would be at her side. They were the Castor and Pollux of the Windsor house in the 21st century. But even if two brothers so united did not make it, perhaps it means that there is something wrong precisely in the logic of the institution ».
What?
«The conflict that has always opposed first-born and second-born. Harry and William grew up together, they suffered together in an unspeakable way. Their emotional bond was also very evident in the very sad images of September 1997, those in which the two boys followed the coffin of their mother Diana with their heads bowed. United by the despair of an immense loss and by the memory of an irrecoverable happiness Everything, however, at Buckingham Palace has always revolved around the logic of number one and number two. William had to be the perfect one, Harry the rebel to blame. The women they have met have something to do with it to a certain extent. Kate Middleton had been a further reason for unity for the two brothers, the arrival of Meghan instead was the trigger for the explosion of all the motivated resentment that the minor felt towards his perfect brother. In the end, the “black sheep” couldn’t take it anymore ».
In the book he tells how William’s initial doubts about Meghan Markle were “the fuse of the explosion”.
“When William advised Harry to stall, to wait before proposing to Kate, he was in good faith. He wanted to prevent his brother from having a marriage like their parents’. After all, the engagement between him and Kate Middleton had been the longest in history. After all, William has always had a fear: to avoid suffering from a wrong marriage as it had been for Diana and Carlo. Because if Harry was very young during those years, William was instead the main witness to the failure and suffering of his parents. To his brother he would then have said “are you sure that she is the right one?”, And above all “are you sure that he has understood what it means to be part of the royal family?”. William was doubtful, in his mind it was said: if a girl like Diana, Countess Spencer, hadn’t understood it, can a woman from Los Angeles understand it? But for Harry that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. After having paid the bills for a long time also for his brother, for the future king who could never be criticized, Harry could not hold up any longer ».
What, if any, are Carlo’s faults?
«Carlo tried to be a father as best he could, but he had too many things to do. Public and private commitments. He had to try to recover his public image after what had happened with Diana, and at the same time he had to keep the relationship with Camilla going. He didn’t have time to devote to his two teenage children. He certainly failed to be the father he would have wanted. William and Harry grew up alone. And over time, the younger son has become the most loved by his subjects but also the scapegoat for all scandals. And then there has always been the elephant in the room: are we sure that Carlo is really Harry’s father? ».
Was the point of no return between Harry and William then the sentences of the minor about the alleged racism of the royal family?
«Yes, it can be defined as the most evident moment of rupture. So much so that it even sparked a sharp public response from Harry: we are not a racist family at all. After all, how do you say “racist” to Queen Elizabeth that she was one of Nelson Mandela’s closest friends. And you can’t even tell Carlo or William. In those sentences of Harry we can read all the resentment of him towards the family. He has come to define his brother and father as “prisoners”. Unacceptable phrases for William, as it is the institution that motivates his identity. But also that of the other Windsors, including Harry. After all, who is Harry if not the son of a future king, the grandson of the queen?
Do you think there have been attempts at reconciliation in this last period?
“Apparently they tried after Prince Philip’s funeral, but it didn’t work. And last summer, when they met to inaugurate the statue of Diana, they were together for the bare minimum ».
Some royal commentators have called Harry “depressed” after seeing him in London for the Jubilee. What is his opinion?
“To me, Harry and Meghan during their last visit to London, they seemed as if they had been led back to milder advice, as if they realized they had exaggerated. Even from a commercial point of view, their fortune comes from the Windsors. It is said that once the queen was very upset by a betrayal of Philip because she for the first time she thought that she might have another true story, not the usual fling, a story that would put their marriage in difficulty. Elizabeth went to confide in Lord Mountbatten. But her beloved Uncle Dickie reassured her at once: Philip always knows which side of her he finds the buttered bread. And that goes for Harry too. They returned to London for the Jubilee because they couldn’t help it. Staying in Los Angeles while the whole world celebrated the queen would be the final farewell. And in England they behaved as they should. No photographer, no balcony view. They attempted to snatch a photograph of the queen with her granddaughter Lilibet, but failed. Let’s say that I found them tamed ».
How do you imagine the future between the two brothers?
“The book business is extremely crucial. As we know, Harry is writing his biography. Will it be a new attack on the royal family? What secrets will it reveal? The only certain thing so far is that he has already received 16 million dollars in advance ».
Source: Vanity Fair
