Prince William has ‘no intention of engaging with Prince Harry’ amid reconciliation plea

Prince William has no intention of engaging with his brother Prince Harry, it has been reported, potentially dashing a reconciliation between the estranged siblings.

The Duke of Sussex said in an interview with GQ this week that his move back to the UK, with wife Meghan Markle and children Lilibet and Archie, was in part driven by a desire to be “closer” with his family – and hopes to “work out” problems behind the rift.

Meanwhile the Prince of Wales, committed to his public role, sees no scenario in the future where he would reconcile with his brother, sources close to the heir told the Mirror.

A source close to Prince William told the paper he remained deeply hurt over the “many things” said by the Duke of Sussex publicly about him and other family members.

Referring to the timing of the GQ interview’s publication, the Mirror reported that the Prince of Wales was preoccupied with royal engagements, which took precedent over Harry’s estrangement.

The King and Queen welcomed the Sultan of Oman for a state visit, and Prince William travelled to Wales to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Aberfan tragedy with his father.

The brothers have remained estranged since the Duke of Sussex gave up his role as a working royal to live in California with his wife in 2020. The Duke claimed in his memoir Spare that William had knocked him to the floor into a dog bowl in a row over Meghan’s alleged behaviour.

Prince Harry has remained in communication with the King, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2024.

Speaking to GQ, Harry expressed hopes to restore his relationship with his family: “Some people don’t want it to work out. I want it to work out.”

He added that “scars stick around forever” but added that he would encourage everybody to let go of the past.

“If there’s certain things from the past that are still affecting your every day, that’s harder to let go of”, he said.

Asked if he was “grieving” the relationships he had with his father and his brother, Harry said: “Yes, of course. I think from a family perspective, again: another massively relatable issue for so many people.

“There’s sibling disagreements, there’s broken relationships between kids and their parents, kids and one parent.

“That continues to come up with me the whole time by people that I speak to. So I know how relatable it is.”

A spokesperson for the Sussexes said it had been GQ’s choice to publish the interview, which take place in September, on Tuesday, and Harry’s comments were “absolutely not intended as a swipe at his brother or any other member of his family. The comment was made in a general context and was not directed at his family in any way”.