“We wish Kate and the family health and healing and hope they can do this privately and in peace.” That was the short statement that Prince Harry (39) and his wife Meghan Markle (42) sent into the world when Princess Kate (42) suddenly announced on Friday that she has cancer. An announcement that, according to experts, also came unexpectedly for Harry and Meghan. “They had no idea and didn’t hear the news until around the same time the rest of the world found out,” an insider revealed to the tabloids.
When King Charles (75) announced to the world in early February that he had cancer, Harry immediately boarded a plane to the United Kingdom. He doesn’t do that for his sister-in-law now. However, in the distant past he called her “the big sister he never had”.
According to royalty watchers and insiders, the fact that the Sussexes, Harry and Meghan, were not aware of Kate’s cancer diagnosis shows that the distance is great between Harry and his brother William (41). “There is a deep rift between the brothers – we know that,” Richard Fitzwilliams, a long-serving royalty watcher, told The Sun. “We also know that they have apparently not spoken to each other for months and the reason is of course that they (the Sussexes, ed.) have been causing the royal family endless problems for about four years and therefore cannot be trusted.”
“William does not trust Harry and Meghan, and for good reason,” he says, referring to the couple’s sensational interview with Oprah Winfrey, Harry’s controversial book and the couple’s attention-grabbing Netflix documentary. “There was no reason to capitalize on their ties to the royal family. The problem is that’s the only thing that seems to have made a lot of money for them. That raises questions about what they will do in the future.”
‘Harry problem’
And so there is little chance that a heartwarming reunion moment will occur in the coming weeks or months. In May, Harry will travel to the United Kingdom to attend a mass at St. Paul’s Cathedral for the tenth anniversary of the Invictus Games. But even then the brothers will most likely not fall into each other’s arms. Sources close to Kate and William suggest to The Telegraph that following both Charles and Kate’s cancer diagnoses, the ‘Harry problem’ is the last thing they want to deal with at the moment.
“The very idea that they would have the mental capacity to face the Duke (Ed.) is roundly rejected by insiders, who note that the couple (William and Kate, ed.) now have much more important concerns that require their full attention,” the newspaper writes.
Charles on Kate
While the rift between Harry and Meghan and William and Kate seems to be widening, the bond between the Crown Prince and Princess and the current King Charles is only becoming closer. “The king has always had a close, warm and unique relationship with the princess. She has a lot of love and respect for him and his position,” an insider told The Telegraph. “When they were in the hospital together, he would often walk down the hall to spend time with her. He always encouraged and supported her.”
The day after her announcement, Charles also invited her to lunch. According to a spokesman for the king, he was “so proud of Catherine for her courage to speak as she did”. Since their time together in hospital, the king has “remained in close contact with his beloved daughter-in-law in recent weeks.”