William and Harry did not talk for two months over royal departure, author claims
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex quit as senior royals earlier this year and moved to North America.
Monday 17 August 2020 17:42, UK
Prince Harry and his brother Prince William did not speak for two months after the Sussexes announced they were stepping down as senior royals, an author has claimed.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's decision to reveal their plans to quit without warning the Royal Family caused the most upset with the Duke of Cambridge, said Omid Scobie, co-author of Finding Freedom, which chronicles Harry and Meghan's life as royals.
Harry and Meghan released their surprise statement about wanting to step down as senior royals in January, prompting the Queen to call a meeting at Sandringham with the duke, his older brother and their father, the Prince of Wales.
The couple's final public engagement as royals was the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey in March, where Kate was accused in the book of barely acknowledging her sister-in-law.
Shortly after that they moved to Canada with their son, Archie, then to Los Angeles where they have been during the coronavirus pandemic.
Scobie, speaking on True Royal TV's The Royal Beat, said: "Where it really went wrong for Harry and Meghan and the Cambridges was that decision to go public with the roadmap to their new working model, the statements that weren't discussed internally.
"That's really what caused the most amount of hurt to William because he wears two hats.
"He's not just the brother. He's also a future king and he felt that that damaged the reputation of the family, that it put family business out in the public domain when it should have been discussed privately.
"And there was a lot of hurt there that continues to this day.
"It's why we saw such an awkward moment at that Commonwealth service.
"The brothers had not spoken since around the time of the Sandringham summit. They hadn't seen each other. And, you know, that's really going to take some time to heal."
The author also suggested Harry will at some point address his own past mistakes.
Harry was widely condemned in 2009 after being caught on film calling a former Army colleague, who was south Asian, a p*** - something he apologised for publicly at the time.
In 2005 he wore a Nazi soldier's uniform with a swastika for a fancy dress party.
Scobie said: "He's on a journey at the moment and I do think that at some point we'll hear him really talk about that journey and what he's learnt on that.
"But I think at the moment ... he's still educating himself. Maybe he feels he's not there yet."
Last week it was revealed Harry and Meghan had bought an £11m home in an exclusive area of Santa Barbara, California - somewhere Scobie said is "pretty much their forever home".
Kensington Palace declined to comment.
But, a source close to the royals said Harry and Meghan are in contact with the Royal Family.
"The family are in contact with each other - a suggestion that they're not talking is untrue," they said.