Prince William and Prince Harry couldn’t spend the holidays together in-person, but the brothers still made time to reconnect amid tensions between them.
Royal expert Katie Nicholl told ET Online the princes brought their families together virtually over the holidays.
“There were phone and video calls over the Christmas and New Year holiday and the Sussexes sent presents to the Cambridges and vice versa,” Nicholl said. “It was an opportunity in an otherwise very busy and chaotic year for both of the families to come together and connect, albeit virtually.”
Although they were not in a good place after Harry, 36, and wife Meghan Markle decided to step away from their senior royal duties in January 2020, Nicholl told ET the relationship between the Duke of Cambridge, 38, and his younger brother is looking up.
“Things are a lot better between William and Harry. If you go back a year at this stage, these brothers were barely on talking terms,” she revealed. “When William went to the Sandringham Summit, he was so angry with his brother. He couldn’t even face going to that lunch with the Queen. He only went for the meetings, such was his frustration and feeling of disappointment about what his brother had done and how Harry was handling the situation.”
Us Weekly exclusively reported on Wednesday, January 6, that the two had a “very real, very ugly” falling out last year.
“They’d reached an impasse, there was so much mud under the bridge and a lot of people felt their feud was beyond repair,” the source said.
Harry confirmed that he and William were on “different paths” in the 2019 documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey. He vowed to always be there for Prince William “as I know he’ll always be there for me.”
After stepping down from royal duties last year, the former Duke of Sussex and Suits alum relocated to California with their 20-month-old son, Archie. An insider told Us that Harry and Meghan, 39, are doing well and are focusing on renovating their Montecito home while they recover from her July 2020 miscarriage.
“2020 was a huge game-changer for Harry and Meghan and it came with its ups and downs — the stress of announcing their departure from the royal family, moving three times, dealing with the pandemic, making huge business decisions, setting up Archewell, coming to terms with the miscarriage,” the source told Us. “It’s brought them closer together and made them a stronger couple.”
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