Last week saw Prince William and Prince Harry come face to face for the first time since their father King Charles’ Coronation in May 2023 as they reunited at the funeral of their uncle, Lord Robert Fellowes.

But the warring brothers couldn’t even unite in their grief to console each other – with it being widely reported that the pair did not speak or sit near each other at the funeral of their mother Princess Diana’s brother-in-law – despite it occurring just two days before the anniversary of Diana’s death.

A source tells Closer that the latest sign that the pair’s rift is nowhere near over has sparked crisis talks between William’s wife Kate Middleton and the brothers’ father Charles, who feels “miserable” over being stuck in between his sons.

It is believed that Kate has been trying to soften William’s stance on Harry to no avail thus far for some months now and has gone directly to the King in her latest attempt to deal with the toxic dynamic between the two brothers.

The source says, “Kate doesn’t want to upset William by continuing to push him to make peace with Harry. It made her sad William and Harry didn’t interact at the funeral. She’s gone through moments of feeling frustrated with her husband, but most of all she’s worried about him being full of anger.”

The news of the brothers ongoing estrangement comes at a time when many feel the Prince of Wales needs extra support as he is taking on more work in his role as a royal following both his father and wife’s cancer diagnoses, which were revealed to the public in February and March respectively.

“There’s really no one better Kate could talk to about the situation than Charles,” the source continues. “They’ve developed such a close rapport. Her and Charles have been through everything together, they’re like father and daughter at this point and he too is back and forth about what to do with the Harry situation. Especially as it’s Harry’s 40th birthday next week. So, they’re sitting down, working out an action plan and once again trying to see if they come up with a compromise in the interest of peace. But it’s not easy and certainly not the kind of stress she needs on her plate right now.”

It was recently reported that Harry and his wife Meghan Markle are busy planning a “lavish” party to mark his milestone 40th birthday, and while “a number of their A-list pals” will be in attendance, it is not thought that any senior royals will be.

However, it was noted that Harry’s cousins, Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, may have received an invite due to their remained closeness to him and Meghan

Despite Kate – and now Charles’ – concerns about the worsening relationship between the brothers, our source adds that William is unlikely to budge.

“William’s big bone of contention is how much his brother continues to dominate the agenda,” they said. “It upsets him that Harry has monopolised so much of their time and energy with his behaviour. And here they are yet again trying to find a way to compromise and bend over backwards to tolerate the intolerable.
“William is done playing into the attention Harry generates. He doesn’t see that his brother is ever going to change, so in his view it’s best to just cut the cord for good and get on with their lives. But King Charles isn’t ready to do that, he just can’t disown his boy or write him off completely.”

Although Charles and Harry’s relationship is not in the best place – with the King even turning down a request from Harry to see his father as he was “too busy” during a trip to the UK in May – it is considerably better than the one Harry has with William. It’s believed that Harry and his father have occasional video calls so Charles can keep in contact with his grandchildren, Archie, five, and Lilibet, three.

The source adds, “He’s not demanding that William let go of his potential grudge, he understands where he’s coming from, and neither Charles or Kate are advocating that all just be forgiven when it comes to Harry and Meghan. But at the same time, they want to figure out a way to diffuse all the volatility, not least because they worry about what it’s doing to William’s state of mind. It’s such a terrible shame that these two brothers, who were once so close, didn’t spend any time together at the funeral.

“Charles’ greatest wish is that they could somehow make peace, and Kate feels the same way. Of course it’s a very delicate situation, Charles doesn’t want to undermine William, especially after all the insults that were directed towards him and towards Kate in Harry’s memoir. But Kate has made it clear she’s ready to let it go, so one could argue that William ought to as well.”

In his controversial memoir, Spare, Harry revealed many moments of frostiness between Meghan and Kate, including an argument about Princess Charlotte’s bridesmaid dress and Kate’s upset when Meghan joked she had “baby brain” after giving birth to Prince Louis.

“Either way, Charles can’t bring himself to just turn his back on his son, nor does he want to betray his other son, it’s a miserable situation for him to have to contend with at this point in his life,” the source concludes.

“Sadly, that’s the reality the family is facing and something he and Kate very much want to find a way to solve. As uncomfortable as it all is, they’re determined to continue chipping away at it until they can find a way through.”