‘They could use Harry’: Prince William said to have so much ‘anxiety’ on his shoulders that his brother is the only one who could save him

Royal author Tina Brown previously wrote — elaborately — about the rivalry between Prince Harry and Prince William in her book Palace Papers: Inside The House Of Windsor. But now, Brown shifts the narrative, arguing that William might actually need Harry by his side.

Prince Harry has always been the “more beloved” of the brothers, having excelled in everything he attempted growing up — polo, cricket, rugby — you name it. His natural talents often overshadowed William’s, which, according to royal author Brown, created an undercurrent of rivalry that William found “discomfiting.” But despite Brown’s testament of Harry being the Queen’s favorite, the former prince called himself the “spare” in his Jan. 2023 autobiography, right out loud in the title.

The relationship between the brothers, always complex, has only grown more strained since Harry and Meghan’s departure from royal duties. The couple has been openly critical of the royal family, and the distance between the brothers has never been greater. Yet, in her recent Substack entry, Brown suggests that William could actually benefit from Harry’s presence in Buckingham Palace. (via Irish Star)

Making her case, Brown writes that William is currently “curtailed by all the sort of anxiety on his shoulder.” Looking at all the problems the royal family is facing, she cannot be closer to the truth. “You’ve got Charles who’s got cancer, you’ve got Kate who’s been through this terrible cancer bout herself and had to leave the stage for nearly a year,” she notes. She further adds that William could use a “pretty upbeat joyful ambassador to the world, who would be Harry.”

Buckingham Palace announced in February that King Charles had been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer, which has been rumored to be pancreatic cancer, but with no confirmation thus far. On the other hand, Prince William’s wife, Kate, was also diagnosed with cancer in March and is in the “early stages” of treatment. With so many issues troubling the palace, all responsibilities are left resting on William’s shoulders.

However, Brown is quick to note that the prospect of Harry returning to the royal fold, even to support William, is highly unlikely. “I think that the hostility between Harry and William is such that I don’t think William will ever want Harry back.” Truth in her words, William has made it clear that he does not want his brother back to the Palace. Brown refers to their dynamic as “the upstage problem,” a rivalry reminiscent of the tensions Princess Diana and Charles once faced.

At the core of the brothers’ strained relationship, Brown suggests, is the fact that Harry often outshines William. “He does upstage William. There’s no doubt about it, you know, on the stage,” she notes. Coupled with Harry and Meghan’s increasingly vocal criticism of the royal family, the rift seems all but irreparable. While William might stand to gain from Harry’s presence in the royal ranks currently, it appears unlikely that Harry would ever return to fill that role.