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By the laws of the monarch, Prince William was always destined to be the future king (unless he pulled a Prince Andrew at the last moment). But that didn’t mean Prince Harry wasn’t King Charles’ son or a royal of almost equal importance. It didn’t, right? The younger son of the late Prince Diana learned the hard way that his father and the royal palace would never even do the bare minimum to protect him.
Even if we disregard all the revelations the Duke has made about his life amid the royals before marrying the Suits star, given Harry and Meghan Markle’s self-admission, it is known that the couple did not spend a happy time post their marriage in the palace. Harry was dissuaded from marrying Meghan by his brother and the media (and often the palace) made it impossible for his wife to lead even a sane second.
Fake stories about Meghan and Harry circulated in the media, without Charles, William, or anyone refuting the eyebrow-raising claims. And when it all got too much for Meghan and she requested professional psychological care, the palace heartlessly denied her even that.
But evidently, Charles’ and the palace’s inability to care was only limited to the Sussexs as when it came to protecting William’s reputation, the decision to do so was taken swiftly and without hesitation, as shared by Harry in the controversial Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan.
The moment when it was confirmed to Harry that he really is the “spare”
The second Harry and Meghan, done with the manipulations and palace life, took the decision to step down as working royals, conspiracy theorists got to work to crack why the two were leaving the palace. Soon media started circulating the rumor that the reason was William — he had bullied his brother and his wife to the point that they decided to not just leave the palace but miles between him and them.
Though Harry doesn’t address if there was any truth in the rumor, he reminisces about the day the story came out. What bothered him more was how quickly the palace released a joint statement from him and William “squashing the story about him bullying us out of the family.” The twist? Harry was never consulted, let alone asked for his permission before the statement was released. But apart from the “wedge” it created between the two brothers, it also taught the Duke a heartbreaking but valuable lesson.
“I couldn’t believe it. No one had asked me permission to put my name to a statement like that. And I rang M and I told her and she burst into floods of tears because within four hours they were happy to lie to protect my brother and yet for three years, they were never willing to tell the truth to protect us.”
But even in that moment of anger and acute sadness — where he acknowledged that his brother was “now on the institution’s side” — he understood that William agreed to it all not as a brother but as the future king, who had it ingrained in him that his responsibility “is the survivability and the continuation of this institution.” If that comes at the cost of losing his only brother then so be it.