We all know how troubled relations have been within The Firm since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle quit the institution and went on a royal-bashing spree across TV, books and interviews. But the couple do still have a few allies remaining at the Palace, with sources saying that the York family – and Princess Eugenie in particular – are still “best friends” with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. It’s apparently causing fury at the Palace, where next-in-line Prince William is accusing his cousin of “betraying” the family by sharing royal secrets with his estranged brother.

“It’s a seriously sore topic for William,” says a source close to the 41-year-old future King, who is dad-of-three to George, 10, Charlotte, eight, and five-year-old Louis, with wife Kate Middleton. “After everything they’ve done, he can’t believe the Yorks still have this cosy friendship with the Sussexes. And – even worse – he’s worried that Princess Eugenie and other members of the family could be passing on royal gossip to Harry and Meghan. It would be bad enough, but the Sussexes are no longer working royals or even a proper part of the family – so it makes him very angry.”

Reports earlier this month claimed the Princesses were still “best of friends and talk constantly” with Harry, 38, as well as the former [Suits] actress, who are parents to Archie, four, and two-year-old Lilibet. The closeness between cousins is well-known after they grew up together, going on family holidays and bonding over royal duties. Their mother, Sarah ‘Fergie’ Ferguson and the late Princess Diana were also besties, supporting each other through their divorces from royal brothers Charles and Prince Andrew. The 63-year-old Duchess recently spoke about their friendship, saying, “She and I, we laughed a lot. We got into trouble a lot.” Royal authors, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, who wrote Sussex biography [Finding Freedom], described Harry and Eugenie’s closeness as “one of the most natural connections” in the royal family. They went on to call them the “closest of friends”, continuing, “Like Harry, Eugenie is loyal, honest and great fun. The two had many nights out together in London, sneaking into back entrances of clubs, such as Mahiki… Not only did he trust her implicitly, but friends said that she gives great advice and has always been ‘beyond wise’ for her years.” The friendship was in evidence at King Charles III’s recent coronation, when Harry arrived with Eugenie, 33, and Beatrice, 35 – as well as their husbands, Jack Brooksbank and Edoardo Mozzi – avoiding all other members of the family at the Westminster Abbey ceremony, including Harry’s dad.

And insiders say William accepts he can’t do anything about their closeness. “He’s had to accept this can’t be formally stopped or vetoed,” says the source. “But what he can do is cut off the supply of information Eugenie, Beatrice and their husbands are privy to. He worries that anything juicy risks going straight back to Meghan and Harry, so insists that Eugenie and Beatrice are now placed on a need-to-know only basis when it comes to any sort of family business. No one’s all that shocked about his decision. Plenty of people in his inner circle think he should have done it ages ago, since it’s been very clear whose side the Yorks are on. They’ve always been closer to Harry, ever since they were kids, and that hasn’t changed. Sure, both Princesses – along with Fergie and Andrew – claim they want to be Switzerland in all of this but it’s clear that as far as friendships are concerned, they’re on team Harry and Meghan. It’s no secret they talk to each other all the time – especially Eugenie and Jack. And that means any family gossip they hear could be going straight to Meghan and Harry. And now William’s had enough.”

As [Closer] has previously told you, things have gone from bad to worse between the formerly tight knit brothers since Harry and Meghan quit royal life in 2020, moving to Montecito in California, where they purchased a $15million mansion. They went on to give a bombshell, tell-all interview to Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, followed by the release of a six-part docu-series with Netflix, called [Harry & Meghan]. A month later, Harry’s memoir [Spare] was released, detailing the breakdown of his familial relationships after he met Meghan in 2016. He wrote how his “archnemesis”, William called Meghan “difficult”, “rude” and “abrasive”. In one incident, Harry claimed his brother knocked him down into a dog’s bowl which “cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me.” In recent months, insiders say the Duke has been keen to build bridges with his estranged family and with the Prince of Wales especially. But – as we recently reported – things aren’t going well, after the couple were pointedly left off the guestlist for a forthcoming memorial event in Queen Elizabeth II’s honour, marking one year since her death. King Charles and Queen Camilla are hosting the event on 8 September in Balmoral, but Harry hasn’t been invited, despite the date landing a week before his 39th birthday, and the timing coinciding with him and Meghan travelling to Europe for the Invictus Games. There was also silence from the Palace as Meghan turned 42 earlier this month, despite well-wishes on social media in previous years.

Our insider continues, “William still worries about Harry and Meghan as a threat to the royals. He’s not going to pretend otherwise and that means anyone that’s still connected to them has to be kept at arm’s length. To him it’s pretty cut and dried. He swears he isn’t holding any sort of grudge against his cousins, this is just the sensible thing to do, but obviously it’s ruffling feathers among the Yorks. It feels to them like he’s singling them out. It’s got Eugenie and Beatrice feeling like they need to choose sides, which they find ridiculous. They’re not going to be told who they can and can’t be friends with. It’s also pretty insulting to be labelled as traitors like this, especially since they’ve only ever tried to make peace in this situation. They see this whole thing as beyond sad and just wish everyone could make up.”