King Charles And Prince William's Sketchy Behavior Isn't Helping Feud Rumors

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A feud may be brewing between King Charles and Prince William, and it's supposedly all of Prince Harry's fault. According to royal enthusiast Tina Brown in an op-ed for the New York Times, Prince William reportedly isn't pleased that his estranged brother, Harry, seems to be slowly making leeway with their father, Charles after spending years as the royal family outcast, following his and Meghan Markle's' exit from the British royal family. Brown alleged that Charles and Harry's September 2025 meetup, in which they supposedly made small steps in the right direction after Harry's decision to step down as a senior royal, was a success. However, William wasn't thrilled about it.

Word on the street is that Charles was quite pleased to reconnect with Harry, who Brown wrote has a more laid-back, fun personality than his stuffy and serious older brother. Plus, the king apparently had ulterior motives and was interested in more than just closing the gap of familial estrangement. According to Brown, the real draw for Charles was how good it would look for the family to put on a united front, though there's also an element of genuinely missing his youngest son. For his part, William, who has been estranged from Harry for several years following Harry's shady memoir and his bombshell Oprah interview with Markle, reportedly wants no part in their possible reconciliation, much to his father's chagrin. All that being said, the Daily Mail has reported that rumors of Harry possibly returning to the royal family as a "half-in, half out" member have no merit, especially since the prince has never indicated such a desire.

Nevertheless, the mere possibility of Harry reintegrating into the royal fold, and his father's apparent openness to such a thing happening, isn't going over well with William, and his resistance to making amends with his brother is allegedly causing big issues between himself and King Charles. 

Prince Harry's meeting with his father, King Charles, took place in mid-September 2025. Roughly 10 days later, Prince William secretly arranged an in-person chat with Charles at Balmoral Castle in a visit that was kept off their official itineraries, according to The Telegraph, suggesting they had something urgent to discuss. At that point, what could have been more urgent than the youngest brother, who William reportedly feels made the family look bad, weaseling his way back into their family? Of course, this is the third consecutive year for such a meeting, which means it may not be related to Prince Harry at all. Unfortunately, given the secrecy with which the royal family operates, we may never know.

Whether or not William's meeting with Charles went as well as the one Harry had with his father is unknown, however. According to People, the once estranged father and son met for around an hour and supposedly had a positive chat for the first time in months. "It's a massive step in the right direction," shared Queen Elizabeth's former spokeswoman Ailsa Anderson. "It's a building of trust." The best thing to possibly come from all of this is the fact that a reconciliation with Harry could help reconnect the king with his grand children, Archie and Lilibet. "Harry seems to be doing the right things at the moment to try and mend bridges and that's the most important thing for everybody, and for those grandchildren their grandfather has [rarely] met," revealed a royal family source.

According to Brittany Provance, Editor-in-Chief of the Royal News Network, it's no surprise that the monarch would be interested in making amends with his youngest son, especially given his advanced age and King Charles' cancer diagnosis in February 2024. "It's completely understandable that King Charles wants to have a relationship with his younger son, especially given his cancer diagnosis and treatments," she exclusively told Nicki Swift, adding, "If his case is terminal, Charles could be dealing with a limited amount of time to make amends and it's understandable that he would want to do so." However, Provance believes any reconciliation would be personal rather than professional, and Harry is unlikely to ever return as a working royal.

As for Prince Harry and William, she's not sure whether the eldest brother wants to restore a relationship with Harry due to the public fallout they've gone through over the years following Harry's departure from official royal duties. However, an apology would go a long way. "Honestly, I'm not sure if Harry can ever bridge the gap, but to start, he would need to apologize," said Provance. "I'm sure Prince William will want a full apology from Prince Harry and an acknowledgement of his younger brother's wrongdoing with Netflix, 'Spare,' interviews and other likely private issues between the brothers." 

She added that William takes his position seriously, and Harry's behavior has undermined the family, which is deeply offensive to the future king. "While William isn't a saint, what Harry has done to William's family remains deeply damaging. There should be no movement to reconcile with Harry unless he does admit to doing some things wrong," Provance explained. She also noted Harry's recent interview in which he said his "conscience is clear" as a red flag for his family, given the claims he's made about them over the years.