Prince William and Prince Harry: a timeline of the brothers’ relationship
The tabloid media has had it out for Prince Harry since his marriage to Megan Markle as well as advancing the story of a rift between him and his brother.
With the passing of the Queen of the United Kingdom, Elizabeth II, many of the world’s eyes were focused on her grandsons, Princes William and Harry. There have been a number of reports in the media of a big falling out between the two in the years after the latter’s marriage to actress Meghan Markle.
A timeline of the two brothers
June 21 1982, Prince William Born.
September 15 1984, Prince Henry born. He becomes known as Harry.
August 31, 1997, Death of their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales in a car crash.
April 29 2011, WIlliam and Kate Middleton marry.
May 19 2018, Harry marries Meghan Markle who becomes Duchess of Sussex
December 2018, Christmas spent by both at Sandringham Estate with the Queen.
May 2019, birth of Harry’s first child, Archie.
July 2019, Christening of Archie attending by both brothers.
October 2019, Harry speaks about the two in an ITV documentary: “look, we’re brothers, we’ll always be brothers. And we’re certainly on different paths at the moment, but I’ll always be there for him, as I know he’ll always be there for me.”
He continued, “We don’t see each other as much as we used to because we’re so busy, but you know, I love him dearly. The majority of this stuff [in the press] is created out of nothing, but you know, as brothers, you know, you have good days, you have bad days.”
January 2020, Harry and Meghan step back from royal duties: “Despite clear denials, a false story ran in a UK newspaper today speculating about the relationship between The Duke of Sussex and The Duke of Cambridge. For brothers who care so deeply about the issues surrounding mental health, the use of inflammatory language in this way is offensive and potentially harmful.”
March 2021, Harry and Meghan’s Oprah Winfrey interview: “As I’ve said before,” said Harry, “I love William to bits. He’s my brother. We’ve been to hell together. But we’re on different paths. The relationship is ‘space’ at the moment, and time heals all things, hopefully.”
William responded to accusations of racism in the royal family by saying, “We’re very much not a racist family.”
April 2021, Death of their grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh. It marks the first public meeting of the two since Harry stepped back from royal duties.
July 2021, Unveiling of Diana’s statue: brothers together enjoying themselves
June 2022, Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee
September 2022, Death of Queen Elizabeth. Both brothers with their wives visit mourners outside Buckingham Palace
How much of the reports by ‘royal’ correspondents can be trusted?
This article has been focused on established facts about the brothers rather than focusing upon hearsay from so-called body language exports and royal correspondents. There is inevitably a lot of speculation around such a high-profile family but the amount of lies spread about the brothers, as evidenced by the number of successful libel cases, should give readers some thought on who to believe and discount in these matters. How much is true is tough to say.
It will be a long time before the relationship between William and Harry is fully divulged.