Why William has 'no interest' in reconciling with Harry

It's not happening anytime soon, it seems

The Royal Family Attends The Commonwealth Observance Day Service
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Prince William may have wished Prince Harry a happy birthday, but you can expect the pleasantries to stop there, apparently.

"The honest truth is that William has no interest right now in reaching out to Harry and Meghan," a friend of William and Kate's has told The Daily Beast.

"He regards what Harry said in his book (i.e. his memoir, Spare) as unforgivable and, understandably given Catherine’s cancer diagnosis, just wants to focus on his wife and family first and his job second. There isn’t space for a complicated reconciliation process with Harry. It’s not a priority."

There were hopes among some royal fans that William and Kate's recent birthday message to Harry on social media might signal a desire for reconciliation, but for another insider who spoke to The Daily Beast, it was pure formality—especially given that they didn't sign the message "W & C" as they would with a personal message.

"It was just a company thing," the source said. "Happy birthday blah blah blah." Ouch.

As for why the Waleses chose to wish Harry a happy birthday despite not having done so in a handful of years, the insider explained it this way: "It makes sense for Kensington Palace and Buckingham Palace to align themselves on a little bit of essentially routine messaging around Harry.

"It shows William is willing to respect his father’s seniority and do what is asked of him."

For context, William and Kate simply reposted Buckingham Palace's birthday post for Harry on their Story and added a few words of their own.

Admittedly, it makes sense that William has a lot on his mind right now, given that Princess Kate is still recovering from cancer after announcing last week that she had completed chemotherapy.

Hopefully, the two brothers will be able to reconcile at a later date when things have steadied a bit more.

Iris Goldsztajn
Iris Goldsztajn is a celebrity and royal news writer for Marie Claire. As a London-based freelance journalist, she writes about wellness, relationships, pop culture, beauty and more for the likes of InStyle, Women's Health, Bustle, Stylist and Red. Aside from her quasi-personal investment in celebs' comings and goings, Iris is especially interested in debunking diet culture and destigmatising mental health struggles. Previously, she was the associate editor for Her Campus, where she oversaw the style and beauty news sections, as well as producing gift guides, personal essays and celebrity interviews. There, she worked remotely from Los Angeles, after returning from a three-month stint as an editorial intern for Cosmopolitan.com in New York. As an undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles, she interned at goop and C California Style and served as Her Campus' national style and LGBTQ+ editor. Iris was born and raised in France by a French father and an English mother. Her Spotify Wrapped is riddled with country music and One Direction, and she can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.