Omid Scobie is still promoting the paperback edition of Finding Freedom, and as with so many royal biographies, the best stuff was probably edited out already. Which means that the biographers doing promotion tend to spill during their promotional tours. Just as Scobie corrected the misconception that the Duchess of Sussex and Duchess of Cambridge are secretly Zooming each other and quite friendly now, Scobie is also correcting some shoddy reporting around William and Harry’s relationship:
Prince William is not over it. The Duke of Cambridge “has not been able to come to terms” with either his brother Prince Harry’s exit from the royal family or Harry and Meghan Markle’s bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview, according to royal expert Omid Scobie.
“The relationship between Harry and William is still very much one of distance,” Scobie, who co-authored the Sussexes’ biography “Finding Freedom,” told “Entertainment Tonight” Thursday. “I don’t just mean physical [distance], across the Atlantic, but they are not talking that much.”
Although the siblings have been spotted acting cordial at several public gatherings — including Prince Philip’s funeral in April and their late mother Prince Diana’s statue unveiling in July — it has been reported for months that tensions are still running high behind closed doors.
“Both sides are able to put everything to one side when it comes to focusing on the bigger, more important moments,” Scobie said. “Unfortunately, that has not led to any sort of bigger movement. These are still two brothers who aren’t in regular communication, or in much communication at all, and I think they remain on these very different paths.”
Scobie doesn’t believe much change will happen soon because the brothers are “very different men.”
“I think that William has certainly become someone who is really living his life for the crown, for the institution. Harry has really sort of gone completely in the opposite direction,” he said.
William “has not been able to come to terms” with any of the Sussex stuff in the past two years, basically. Baldingham is still incandescent with rage at the reality that he can’t control and undermine his younger brother anymore. And please, William doesn’t live his life for the crown. William loves the power and trappings of power, but William would rather f–k off to some quiet country estate with a mistress. Meanwhile, Scobie also had some sh-t to say about how no senior royal has put their foot down about the ongoing shenanigans:
Omid Scobie took a sensational swipe at the Queen by claiming “no senior royal” stepped in to solve Prince William and Harry’s rift. The Finding Freedom author believes the brotherly row could have been squashed if a Royal Family member had stepped in – but said no one has intervened in the sibling squabble.
In an interview on This Morning – which coincided with the news that Piers Morgan was cleared by Ofcom over comments he made about Meghan Markle – Scobie said the “family fractures” were far from fixed.
“I wish there was a.. you know, we have all experienced family squabbles and so on, but there is always a senior member of the family who clips you round the ear and pulls you all together and says ‘talk!’. And I haven’t heard that from any source connected to the family that there has been someone who has played that role. I’m sure if Diana was here today, that’s exactly what she would do. But I’ve certainly not heard that from any of the others.”
That reads like a subtweet of Prince Charles more than the Queen. As in, Charles is their father, Charles is the future king, Charles is the one who needs to step in and fix this situation. The thing is, Charles is (IMO) terrified of William and William’s incandescent rage. Whenever I think about why Charles hasn’t chosen to “check” William, I realize how tenuous this whole line of succession really is.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, WENN, Backgrid.
William will never get over it. And, I agree, Charles is too scared of William to truly put him in check. And I think he is now scared of Harry, but for different reasons (as in Harry will publicly fact check their assess and stomp out any palace spin).
It’s a complete cluster fuck over there with everyone jockeying for power and trying to secure their positions and money for when Betty dies.
This family is notorious for hanging on to their grievances until the day they die.
Im reminded of what harry said in the oprah interview. William and charles are trapped. Maybe thats why he will never get over it.
But then again, we have time and time seen that the crown can intervene in certain things and the press will listen. So he’s not that trapped.
William and Harry are adults. No one is going to force them to reconcile.
This. Scobie is writing like they are children and it’s ridiculous. As is calling issues with racism a “squabble” – please.
So Kate never was a peacemaker. Omid spells that out. Nobody even tried
So Kate never was a peacemaker. Omid spells that out. Nobody even tried
Are there any redeeming qualities in this family? From the history to current events I see nothing to admire or courtesy to.
Lady Sarah Chatto is a talented painter and dedicated Dior New Look fashion plate. That’s all I’ve got.
The entire rest of the world experiences senior employees moving on to bigger and better opportunities, Will needs to move on for God’s sakes. It was ridiculous to expect the Sussexes to remain as whipping posts.
William is a loafer whose only interest is getting his mitts on the money—all of which is in the Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster. This family of, mostly, dim witted ne’er-do-wells has been viciously toxic since about 1000 AD—it’s not even an interesting soap opera at this point.
F*ck William, who cares what that spoiled brat wants?
Charles doesn’t want to fix it because anger at the Sussexes mean people are paying less attention to him being shady af.
And in case anyone who isn’t following the RF was unaware that the Sussexes are used to deflect from shadiness and pedophilia, Lifetime just spelled it out. I was like dayum they went there.
Wait. What? Are you talking about some Lifetime movie? Was there a documentary? What did I miss?? 😳
@BlueToile, the newest Harry & Meghan movie premiered last night. I just happened upon it and restarted it from the beginning bc I was curious to see how they’d portray everything, but then it cut off in the last 40 mins so I don’t know how it ended. They absolutely did reference the Andrew shenanigans point blank!
The whole movie was pretty heavy handed, but the point-blank Andrew thing was handled in a really funny (intentionally) way. I used my mom’s cable login to watch the real time broadcast on the Lifetime app. Sucks that there’s no way to access the app without a cable login, but I strongly recommend finding a way to watch for anyone who – like me – is living for Harry & Megan’s new life.
Your take on the Lifetime M&H movie is tempting me to watch (a little) but I just can’t get past the casting choices of the leads. The actor cast as Harry looks ugh, and the Meghan actress has such a heavy jawline, it throws me off.
@Debbie, the Meghan in the first movie was spot on. The 2nd movie was not as good casting but OK. The actress in this recent one probably had the least resemblance but I actually felt she did a decent job with the mannerisms/voice. All 3 Harrys were terrible LMAO.
I think Charles believes the division between his sons is helpful to him.
Yup. Divide and conquer.
Parenting at its finest, right?
Of course he hasn’t been able to come to terms with their absence. Because even in absence, they garner an infinite number of clicks, many more than he ever can. And the pathological narcissist just can’t STAND it.
William can’t come to terms with the fact that Harry up and left after all the absolute vile sh*t he and his wife subjected him and Meg to? Ummm, yo, that’s called consequences, William. You f*cked around and you found out. Hysterical that after everything he did, he can’t get over what’s called consequences in the real world. What a sad and frankly gross man.
I…actually think this may genuinely be the first time Billy Boy has experienced real consequences for his misbehavior.
It would explain a lot, none of it good.
William does not benefit from Harry leaving; not in the slightest. He absolutely expected to “share the burden of being king” with Harry, which he can no longer do and he’s still in shock about it. I think the smear campaign snowballed out of his control. Having the press in on it, and emboldening the staff to get their swipes in, made everything go off the rails. I think the main goal was to knock Harry and Meg down a peg or two, and get them to fall in line, but the Sussexes exiting was a surprise. When H&M announced they were leaving it was said that William was stunned and he still is. Now I just think he’s trying to double down to justify his actions and prove that he doesn’t need Harry.
I agree with this theory. If there’s one thing certain, it’s Wills played himself. The RRs aren’t saying he needs Harry for no reason. He planned to leech off of brother and failed.
But why does william need harry to reign in the first place? Why is it harry he must share the burden with? There is only 1 crown and williams got it. Plus, the guy is married. If he is carrying any burden it should be kate who will shoulder that with him. Yet they never mention her.
Because Kate isn’t the sort who shoulders burdens. She creates them.
Because William is lazy, he’s married to an empty-headed mannequin who’s equally lazy, and they’re both consumed with jealousy that Harry and Meghan are the popular ones who have all the good ideas and get sh*t done. Harry was supposed to fill the role of royal “gopher” and let William shine but all that changed when Harry took the reigns of his own career, went off to Afghanistan, started up Invictus and Sentebale, took part in Walking Wounded, and dozens of other worthy projects. When he met Meghan and they married, that was the last nail in the coffin.
Maybe he expected Harry to share the burden of being king but Harry was to remain firmly as the lesser brother. Now Harry has left and is exceeding William in so may ways William cannot accept it. Harry was never allowed to exceed or even equal William in anything as part of the rf. I think that was one of the reasons he had to leave the military, he would have outranked William. William has taken as fact for his entire life that Harry is less because he is not the heir and he cannot accept that fact is no longer true.
@lizzie. But harry was always the more popular brother (prior to meghan). And its was never an issue. At least not publicly.
It was always a public issue, which is why William was known to publicly knock Harry down a few pegs in interviews. Make a nasty comment about Harry not going to college, Harry’s intelligence, whatever. This was long before Meghan came on the scene.
I read on this site and on a British paper that Harry was promoted to major last February, so he outranks William in the military (and a million other ways).
Harry is actually Major Wales🤭.
Even though Harry is more popular, William leaned on and hid behind his young family for years, and that set him apart. Once Harry got married and started his own family, that put Harry on equal ground with William. When Harry chose a capable woman like Meghan who was eager and willing to be a working royal that set William’s simmering jealousy into flames. Being an heir just couldn’t be enough for William, he chose to actively smear and ruin Harry and Meghan’s character because putting in the time and effort to elevate himself and Kate for their current and future roles the honest way would be too much like work.
I think Harry went along w it, prob out of love and loyalty and also just habit, but when they came after Meghan and Archie, and in the ways they did, he finally saw them for who they really were. I think therapy helped him see it all more clearly too. And Meghan. It’s like he’s a cult survivor…
If Charles lives as long as his parents, the Cambridge kids will be adults when William takes the throne and they can share in the “burden” of shaking hands and cutting ribbons.
He will use one of his kids as the whipping boy as there is no one else. I think poor Louis will be it.
He has the genes for it but his red/purple face and hands give the impression he might not have their good health.
That’s rosacea (just a skin condition) it won’t kill him
It remains bizarre that the media keeps saying that Harry was expected to help William share the burden of being king when Billy has a wife of ten years right there. Normally spouses share each other’s burdens, not siblings. It also says a lot about how little they believe that William can do the job on his own, or how kate remains useless as a support for him.
Not to mention we never, EVER hear same regarding Prince Charles. Can you imagine? Andrew, Edward, Anne, where art thou? I, HRH Prince Charles, neeeeeed you!!!!
The queen relied on Philip not Margaret. But it might be old fashioned chauvinism to not share the burden with a woman.
‘share the burden’ meaning Harry would do all the work, including the Duchy and Prince’s Trust, while William would take all the credit.
Yup!
Like you all say and I have to keep screaming to myself whenever I see these types of articles, kinging is a one man job. If you aren’t man enough to handle it, then walk away. It was done before and can be done again or better yet pull the plug on the entire useless British monarchy. But as much as Willy and his robot Barbie don’t want the work that co was with the titles, they absolutely want the perks those titles provide. Let’s face it, these two would fall flat on their faces if they had to go it alone without the Secruity of the palaces and all it’s perks. They said it was Harry and Meghan would come back begging, but they clearly had those two couples confused because Harry has lived outside the palace walls helping in the real world. Meghan was a grown ass woman who had a job since she was 13. There was absolutely no way that those two weren’t going to thrive and survive l
All the credit and all the money.
I think this is the most correct theory – they wanted to ding Meghan a bit, but the problem is that they started too early and in doing so, gave the media the unofficial green light to just go ham. Meghan never had enough time to build her image in the UK organically before this narrative took over.
I do think Harry was supposed to be in the Prince Philip role for William – not Kate. He was supposed to support and cover for his brother for decades, marry someone from the aristocracy, spend most of his life out in a country house and be trotted out into London or other areas of England when needed, until eventually he kicked it at 99 and they all talked about how dutiful he was.
@Talie: I think the BRF sicced the media on Meghan — iow, I think the green light they gave was pretty official (rather than being “unofficial”).
IA w what you say about Prince Harry in the Philip role, except that Harry was not going to be out in a country house and occasionally trotted into London when needed, he was supposed to live with William and be there at William’s beck and call, and do every single thing that William didn’t want to do as POW or King, which given William’s twin penchants of laziness and incompetence, would have meant 99% of the whole job. Harry would have been Philip and Elizabeth combined without the title of monarch or consort.
The media’s goal was to harass Harry and Meg into giving them access, which they thought would work because it’s always worked before. I’ve said this many times but I think they wanted Harry in the role as shadow king, because they knew William was not up to the job. Will is just not suited for the role and never has been, so they wanted Harry to fulfill the job. They sent Harry on all of those tours and he was doing engagements while William was in Wales doing f*ckall with Kate. Harry was going to do all of the work and come up with the ideas. Harry has the temperament, discipline, and creativity to move the monarchy forward, which is obvious when seeing how William has been flailing from scheme to scheme for the past two decades. Everyone was counting on Harry to save them , while treating him like trash, and now they’re pissed because they had no plan c because Harry was the plan b.
Not sure if this was in FF or where I heard this, which means maybe I’m wrong. But I think very early on Meghan considered or asked Harry about doing interviews or meeting w/ some of the press/RR to try and get some of the negativity under control. But Harry held firm in not negotiating with them at all and so of course they got worse. Yeah, they wanted access and thought they would get it by using their usual tactics. Very Pierce Morgan-like in how he held Gaga and Ariana Grande hostage through negative coverage.
So yeah imagine the press and William were all surprised when they bounced instead of playing the game. It’s really breathtaking to think about how bad*ass Megan and Harry really were when they left.
Yup, this all sounds just about right.
Was the Sussex exit really a surprise? I can very clearly recall Harry’s been saying all his life he wants to be a normal, non-royal bloke.
Harry who insisted on serving in combat, who spent time living in Australia in his gap year, traveled extensively in Africa. IMO it was pretty 50/50 to me on if he’d tolerate a life in royalty.
Sussexit was very much a surprise and it was said at the time that it was. Despite Harry stating that hated royal life and wanted to leave, I think the RF never truly believed he would. Harry seems to be a very loyal person, so I think they took advantage of that and always thought he’d stick around. Everyone was trying to dodge Harry and not discuss anything (Charles), thinking that would make Harry stop asking but that was a mistake. I don’t think Harry’s family truly know who he is, otherwise they would have known not to f*ck with him.
@HeyJude, it might not have been if anyone in that family had EVER listened to what Harry had to say and had actually taken him seriously as his own man, and not just the party boy/spare nonsense the media assigned to him.
He said years and years ago that he wanted to leave the BRF, yet everyone immediately put all of the blame on Meghan when they left. As if Harry wasn’t a grown man with agency, capable of making decisions for his own family. If they hadn’t underestimated him for his entire freaking life, and if they’d truly LISTENED to some of his concerns, maybe it wouldn’t have come as such a shock. No matter how you look at the situation, that family did this to themselves.
Agree @jt
I think that megixt also enraged Wills against his wife because he probably blames her for everything. None of this benefits him and he can’t win because he’s a non charismatic looser. He’ll never take any responsibility for his actions and since Kate was a total petty b* he’ll easily blame her for everything
and he’s stuck with kate now after Sussex exist all hell will break loose and the firm won’t allow him to divorce.
I don’t think he will ever come to terms with Harry and Meghan leaving AND being successful. I think if they were miserable and unsuccessful and broke and without powerful/influential friends etc William would be able to come to terms with it a lot better. He will never be able to accept that they left AND that they thrived after leaving.
And I don’t know why Charles didn’t check William. Maybe William has some dirt on Charles that he threatens to leak (although at this point, what could it be?), maybe its as simple as the rift between the brothers is beneficial to Charles (although a peacemaker story re: Charles would boost his image), I don’t know. But it seems like William is just running amuck in the press and no one in the royal family cares to stop him.
Becks- I shudder to think of how violent Wills’ rages must be. I would not be surprised if he gets physical. That could be the big story everyone is trying to hide. Imagine if he was exposed as abusing Kate or the kids, physically?
I’m no Kate defender, but being in an abusive marriage explains (though doesn’t excuse) a lot of Kate’s behavior.
It really seems as if Wills’ tantrums are worse than we know.
Rapunzel – I do think his rages are worse than we suspect. Everything about him is glossed over, so figure that things like “incandescent with rage” are underestimates of his behavior (if that makes sense, my wording feels off, lol.) Basically I’m saying that his temper and rages must be REALLY scary if what gets out is that he is always raging, that Camilla was taken aback by his temper, etc.
It’s also possible that he has gotten worse as he’s aged. Like maybe he was always an ahole with a temper but when he and Kate got married it wasn’t that big a deal, and as he’s gotten older it’s gotten worse?
We watched the Lifetime movie last night about H&M and I will say this….they did not shy away from portraying William as a total raging asshole. He definitely came off the worst.
I’m pointing that out because guess who wrote the movie? Robert Lacey’s daughter.
Well that is an interesting fact Becks1! I watched it too. So I guess her portrayal of William was pretty spot on.
@becks1
Wow! I didn’t know Robert Lacey’s daughter wrote it. I just assumed it was some American hack. This changes how I will view it. Not that I think it will be 100% accurate, but I bet she knows some shit and got the broad strokes right about people’s personalities behind closed doors.
@Snuffles – my husband actually enjoyed it for the sheer cheesiness of it, lol. For most of us, there was nothing really interesting or new about it, but it did really portray the royals in a poor light IMO. The one thing that I did not like was that they completely messed up the commonwealth service and used it for a cheesy moment, and did not show what actually happened.
But the portrayal of William was….interesting. He was petulant, whiney, snobby, rude…..and Kate was just kind of there, letting him run the show. It said a lot about their dynamic IMO.
Why are there so many manufacturing the idea that Kate is somehow a battered woman? If there had been proof of that, believe me it would have been out sometime in the last 40 years.
@becks I did not know that Lacey’s daughter wrote the lifetime movie. I’m sure she’s got some insight from her dad. I haven’t seen it but I did hear how William and Charles did not look good in that cheese fest.
@nota
Nobody is manufacturing anything re: Kate. Wills is clearly a volatile person. He is also clearly hiding something. All I said was imagine if he was outed as being physically abusive. And that if it was true, it would explain (not excuse) Kate’s behavior.
I never said it was likely, or that there was any evidence. My speculation was simply based on, “if the RRs think labeling Will incandescent with rage is okay, imagine how bad he must really be.” I do think it’s worse than we know.
And I am unconvinced that we would have heard about it already if my speculation was true. The BRF is very very good at hiding things.
TL;DR- my speculation is possible, though not probable, and based on reports of his behavior which, even sanitized for the media, seem like red flags.
@Nic919, Lacey’s daughter was writer/co-writer in the other movies too. Knowing this now before watching ETP, you’ll wonder who knows who when you see the completely revised version of the 2020 Commonwealth Service. We’ve seen the video of that day. I’m sure Scarlett Lacey did too. None of that is in the movie.
@becks1 I did not know it was RL daughter that wrote that.. they all truly do use the Sussex’s to make a $£ it’s even a family racket everyone except the Sussex’s themselves is allowed to profit.
And by writing that, to me it indicates that you’re following the lead of strange new trend from Kate stans. There has never been any talk of William being physically abusive until the last year. A year in which plenty of Kate stans are seeing their hopes fading that Keen will ever see a crown. And the manufactured talk of possible physical abuse 9/10 times comes from Kate stans. Very dangerous speculation to be floating.
The BRF isn’t that good at hiding things, especially if it was something like physical abuse. That would have been out, if nothing else it would have been blamed on Harry because staff or girlfriends with bruises couldn’t be hidden. Just as William’s out of control drinking and drugging was leaked by courtiers as actually being Harry as the one with the serious problem.
@nota
No. Not a Kate stan or fan. At all. Just wondering what else Will is capable of if the label of “incandescent with rage” is the sanitized one.
I’m only saying it wouldn’t surprise me. Don’t blow my statement out of proportion. My last comment on the subject.
No sh*t, @becks1? Robert Lacey’s daughter? That’s really interesting.
There’s a video of William growing impatient and then elbowing Kate HARD in the ribs at the BAFTAS to signal her to stop chatting with her seat neighbor. She didn’t even blink or seem shocked, just straightened up quickly. It’s extremely telling about their learned dynamic. Even if it was a harder nudge than he intended, he would have signalled apology or something, but neither of them even made eye contact afterwards.
Kate flinching at William’s touch at the Christmas special is also telling. She’s so used to flinching away from him that she forgot she was on camera.
And this is not a Kate Stan writing this. I belief the proof that William has rage issues is clear from observable evidence of his barely concealed rage and tension, the incidents I mentioned above, and the way that insiders constantly reference his anger. Focusing on William’s character and nature doesn’t automatically excuse Kate’s own behaviour at all.
June-0? Do you have a link to the elbowing at the Baftas?
@Rapunzel I totally get what you’re saying and obviously none of us know for sure, but imo it’s certainly plausible. Kate often looks so nervous around him, always looks to him for his approval, or as if she’s afraid she might be doing something wrong. And the way she jerked away from his touch on the Mary Berry Christmas thing has always stuck in my head. I don’t think that we sound like Kate stans for our opinions on this.
And I do think it could be hidden— not forever, but for a long time. They hid Diana’s bulimia from the public, as well as her total misery in her marriage, very well. The truth will always come out eventually, but not until after the BRF has done everything they possibly can to prevent it.
There is a difference between having a short temper and being abusive and there is no evidence of William being physically abusive. And if he was and Kate is keeping the kids in that situation and pretending everything is just fine, then that’s horrible and dangerous parenting.
As for Kate shrugging off William on the Mary Berry show, that was her looking annoyed not afraid. They have interacted in the last year and at most looked annoyed with each other. Kate hasn’t looked nervous in front of William during tours for a while now.
And regardless of any of this, her behaviour toward Meghan has been despicable and there is no justification for it. If William is that bad she can divorce him. She chooses to remain in this situation.
Thanks, Nota. Far too often people bend over backward to make Kate an innocent despite her snubbing Meg on Commonwealth Day, ignoring her at the polo match, lying about the crying story, etc. Since they can’t effectively make Kate look innocent with a straight face, they try to make her a victim of Williams’s. Nice try but that b*tch is button covered Karen.
‘There is a difference between having a short temper and being abusive and there is no evidence of William being physically abusive.’
Exactly Nic919. That this was even floated here is going many steps too far, and it is something that has only been fabricated in the last year from people with a clear agenda.
@Becks1: maybe he’s threatened to leave and because they don’t want a repeat of what Elizabeth’s uncle did, they are pleasing him and don’t dare to say no to him?
@Pao that’s been one of my working theories for a while now, that William constantly threatens to walk away. It would explain 1) why no one really took Harry seriously and 2) why there is such an effort to protect William. Even if they really don’t think he would walk away, the threat is enough to control the family.
Pao- I totally think he threatens to leave. And that much of the “Will needs Harry to share his burden” talk is just Wills being, “If I’m trapped, you have to be too!”
I think he wants out but is too weak to do more than threaten. And jealous that Harry wasn’t.
I remember reading that was the threat he made when he got married and didn’t want to work so they caved.
Now that we are discussing this, I wonder what William dreams he would do if he abdicated – Harry will always be the one who got away successfully. Maybe that is part of why he cannot accept Harry leaving, maybe he thought if he ever left he would be quite a big deal on his own and even in the US. Harry took his plan and exceeded whatever William dreamed of doing.
@Pao, I can totally believe that and I think that’s why his behavior has been unchecked for so many years and why everyone just seems to walk on eggshells around hum.
@Pao – I think that’s one of William’s biggest frustrations, that he wants to leave and holds that threat over everyone’s heads, but he knows he doesn’t have the smarts or focus or drive to make a success of himself on his own (certainly Kate would be more of a burden than a help in that aspect), ergo the constant rage. And what do narcissistic rage-aholics do? They turn what’s actually self-directed rage outwards against everyone else. It’s also the reason why he’s so spiteful about the Sussexes because they showed him up before, during and after they left. Jealousy will eat you alive and destroy everything if you let it.
The stories of him threatening to leave have been out there forever, but if that is why they all let him get away with his behavior, then they need to call his bluff. Willileaks wouldn’t last two seconds if he really had to make it on his own. I would imagine his inheritance from his mother is now a nice amount, assuming he hasn’t dipped into it, but it wouldn’t be enough to support him and his kids, and Kate if she is still around. And you will never convince me that he or Kate have the intelligence, creativity, connections, and appeal to get the sort of deals Harry and Meghan have. In addition, I get the impression that William loves the ass-kissing and pomp that comes with being a top dog in the BRF. He ain’t giving that up.
William has been financially supporting the Middletons, money for mortgage, maybe keeping their money losing business going.
OK so with Wills’ threats to leave….
What would be the logistics of him walking away with Prince Tampon still alive? Would he get any money? What about the duchy and all the trimmings? Where would he move?
What about if he walked away after Prince Tampon died and he was already king? How would that differ?
Along these same lines, I think Wills and Kate are insanely jealous of Harry and Meghan because they would love to be living in Los Angeles themselves. I remember when they came to LA, and they both looked happier on that trip than I can remember them ever being. They both loved the red carpets that were rolled out for them all over LA.
I don’t for a second think they would remotely be as successful as Harry and Meghan have been. They are far too lazy, but in their own minds’ they would be received all over in exactly the same way.
I agree that his “power” in the family is that he threatens to leave, but I don’t understand why they don’t call him on it. He’s too scared to ever leave and they all know it. I mean ffs, WE all know it. Call his bluff! It’s such bs that they all tiptoe around him as if on eggshells. They’re *giving* him this power by treating him like this.
Besides, even if up until a few years ago they were scared that he might actually leave, he DEFINITELY won’t now because he would forever be compared to how Harry fared after he left, and William would never measure up. The crown is all he has, and if he gives it up to sink or swim on his own, he’d sink and he knows it.
So they really need to stop giving William this amount of psychological control. But they won’t, because this family always does the exact opposite of whatever the right decision would be.
As a parent, Charles basically let both boys run amok after Diana died (Club H, the drugs etc – he didn’t do anything about it until it got *out*, THAT is when he took Harry to the drug rehab to “teach him the lesson about drugs”).
Otherwise, Charles was perfectly happy to leave them alone (except for the yearly photo op at Balmoral or ski trip) and sniff after Camilla. SHE was his ONLY concern really.
William has always been an emotional whiplash kind of person. No one ever checked him, maybe because of the fear of him stepping away? William has always made it clear he didn’t want to be king, he’s said it in several interviews about it. Did the Queen and Charles believe he might actually do it, walk away? William would never do that, because he knows he couldn’t make it on his own.
For years we heard talk it was a secret deal, Harry and William agreed they’d both stay in or they’d both walk away. Well, Harry walked in large part because William was abusing him and his wife. William stays in because he likes the power, control, laziness, and wealth.
@nota- a secret deal would explain the other brother’s anger and feelings of betrayal. And why Harry tried for half in.
And Harry probably would’ve been out sooner if it wasn’t for this deal with Wills.
This is all ridiculous. William would NEVER walk away if it meant Harry got to be King. It wouldn’t surprise me if W made that “secret deal” to try and ensure it, he could never stomach Harry having something he doesn’t…which is why he is so utterly furious and miserable at Harry’s awesome life and now apparently desperately trying to get Charles out of the way ASAP so he doesn’t need to wait 10+ years to be King. He wants it NOW, though he’s too stupid to realize it won’t mean anything and Harry won’t care.
I suspect their secret deal was made very early in childhood, when they thought they could walk away with the castles, money, and ponies. But the idea stuck in the back of both their minds, that there was the ability to walk away if you planned it.
Well that’s because Baldimort is a self severing, self centered, self entitled asshole
I think they really wanted H and M to be like Edward and Wallis, basically miserable and living on grace and favour, which is why the comparison is often mentioned.
I also think Charles never stood up to William for several reasons : he doesn’t know how to parent, he didn’t want to be like his father, the boys lost their mother, and finally, William most likely threatened to relinquish his spot in the line. Given his tantrumy behaviour I’m sure he would have done that growing up.
Also the head injury with the golf club, was it? That explains a lot.
If there was a secret deal it was definitely way before Meghan maybe that’s why William was against the marriage knowing that the firm won’t allow mixed-race children as heirs.
It’s a subtweet of both Charles and Elizabeth. Charles is their father, but Elizabeth is their CEO. They are the only people with the authority to check the brothers. (By that I mean William.) They are equally at fault for not intervening.
But it’s not only cowardice nor incompetence, though both played a part. The real reason is that William finally crossed a line that Harry could not forgive as he likely has so many times in the past. This is the story of one family member being a holy terror and the others giving him everything he wants to keep the peace. When someone finally stands up to the bad seed, it is the person who stands up who is seen as the troublemaker by the rest of the family. It’s a very common situation.
It is a common situation teecee. My older sister was a raging narcissist, a tempermental monster, and took most of her rage out on me. My parents did not know what to do so they gave in to keep the peace. It took me a long time to get over and I had to distance myself from them for years to get my head straight.
Jaded, are you secretly me?? My mother used to say that she didn’t care who was at fault, she just wanted peace and quiet. It wasn’t until I was in my late twenties and my mother saw just how cruel my sister could be that she even accepted that I was telling the truth.
I do wonder if some part of Charles and Liz constantly making excuses for William is partially because they know they raised him to be this way and a) they don’t want to look at what they did and b) it’s easier to convince themselves that, rather than stepping in and exercising some parental authority, it’s too late and this is just who William is. If this is “just who William is,” that takes power out of their hands and absolves them of the responsibility to enforce boundaries with Ragey Bill.
Yup. William is the “missing stair” and it’s easier for the family to navigate around him than fix the problem. Meghan came in and didn’t ignore or enable the problem.
Agreed. I get the feeling that Meghan took one look at William’s behavior and couldn’t believe they were all coddling him just because he’s the FFK. She called bs on the whole thing, and I bet that’s why they had to push her out of the palace.
Charles didn’t do anything, because everything he does is through the Firm and its courtiers. He’s unable to just be a father or a son. He’s forever PoW, and all his decision are through that role.
Dare i say it out loud…
Omid should quit pussyfooting around the issue. Would it be fair to say that William is one major factor responsible for Prince Harry and Meghan’s exit from royal life. William could not accept Meghan as an equal, a royal sister-in-law and wife of Prince Harry.
Omid is still a royal reporter. He has to be careful about what he says or he risks losing access to the people he’s hired to cover. That’s why the royals get away with so much BS. It would take an editor and paper owner who DGAF for the reporter to be 100% honest.
And what is the likelihood that someone with that level of integrity be drawn to royal or celebrity reporting in general to begin with?
William was obviously a major factor in their decision to leave. I don’t think Scobie is being subtle about it.
I think that’s what all the UK journalists know and are afraid to say. The royal family has leaned into the image of the Cambridges as “perfect couple,”. Which is difficult to sustain under ordinary circumstances. I’ll bet William has a violent temper he never learned to regulate, and that Harry was the only person who could manage Williams temper. Meghan took Harry away from him, which he cannot abide. There’s no way he accepted her as an equal. He doesn’t accept his wife or even his brother as equals.
No need for a lot of psychoanalysis – William won’t get over it because he doesn’t want to get over it. At the end of the day, he loves the monarchy and himself more than he loves his brother – that’s all there is to it.
He loves the “power” and the money. He’s allergic to any work attached to it.
Here’s a rich fact: He’s going to “speak to emergency responders at Kensington Palace ahead of #WorldSuicidePreventionDay.” And I’m sure he doesn’t get the irony of this at all. NONE of them do.
Oh that’s rich. I hope Meghan and Harry record a video about this from their own platform on the same day. It would be something heartfelt, eloquent and of real value to people struggling with suicidal ideation and William would go nuclear.
Wow.. the hypocrisy! I do not even know what to say. It is to the point that they give me an icky slimy feeling when they choose to do these obviously insulting appearances.
Sure, there’s a whole list of monarchical things he loves more than his brother. The weird thing is that now he could reconcile with Harry and still have all the trappings he wants. Will and Harry are never going to be close now that they’re on opposite sides of the planet, but an effort could be made – some initial steps, even an echo of Harry “we have our differences, but I still love my brother,” that sort of thing – and nothing would change for Will. He could still be lazy, useless, a liability in public, preferred son and future king. The only reason I can think of for Will’s continued residence in the Anger stage of Grief (other than he’s nuts) is that it’s an excuse for not doing anything else.
@Jan you have GOT to be kidding me.
Do you think they see the irony and do things like this as a subtle “FU” to Harry and Meghan, or are they genuinely too stupid to make the connection and see the hypocrisy??
I mean, let´s give Charles some credit: every family decision he took so far has blown up to his face. Giving in to pressure and proposing to Diana; then giving up on Diana and pursuing Camily; then having William run his own nightclub in his property; buying William property in the Cotswolds ( or whatever); and on and on and on.
No wonder big C said ” I rather not” than to try and mend fences…knowing his track record, we would probably seen the brothers getting physical!
Haha! You do make an excellent point! People solving is not Chaz’s strength.
Thanks for these pictures Kaiser. The only one I would have added in is the one with Charles’ hands on William’s shoulders while he sits in the wheelchair. So much pretense over a non existent relationship. These two consider themselves good actors don’t they?
The photo of William grinning in the wheelchair always annoys me so much. It’s like, “Ha, some people actually have to play basketball like this! What a hoot!” He’s such an asshole.
The royal family helped bring about the very situation they didn’t want. How dumb do you have to be to realise that a man who lost his mother young but saw her hounded by the press before she died, has talked about wanting a family for a long time& his discomfort with the royal role- might not stick around when you hound his young family?
And given they lived with Charles ‘Camilla is not negotiable’ it’s not like they are new to idea of how important someone’s partner could be to them even if they aren’t fans. Why didn’t they have even contingency plan? They really couldn’t see Harry’s profile, experience, Meghan being American with a decent career gave them options?
And yeah Charles as a parent should have tried to intercede in the brothers’ issues but sounds like William cosied up to him temporarily to take down a mutual ‘enemy’ so he sided with William (and ultimately the monarchy) against Harry.
I agree, they should have been able to see this coming from a mile away. Throwing Harry and Meghan under the proverbial bus right out of the gate was idiotic, and this is the entirely predictable outcome. No need for hindsight here!
You would think that with being FFK, having a wife, kids, mistresses, and trying to take down Charles would leave William with little to no time to focus on anything else but nope he is still sticking his nose in his brothers business.
Like most narcissists, he can’t stand anyone being happy when he isn’t.
Of course the other brother can’t get over it. He’s the future future king don’t you know and Harry willfully defied him! Him! The future future king, anointed by God himself to rule over everyone. His word must be taken as law, even now. but that rascally Harry…who does he think he is, thinking for himself and making choices without TOBB telling him what to choose!
Bill has not experienced the effects of the complete sentence, “No”. In trying to present the “perfect” monarch, his actual behaviour has been hidden, and in instances whereby the BTM becomes aware of his antisocial antics, the story is swapped to his brother. E.g, the Nazi uniform, most of the guest at that party were dressed inappropriately, only Harry bore the brunt of the media’s self righteous criticism.
The effort to protect TOB image, has created a vain and self-entitled individual, in other words – delusional, self centered and lazy. To facilitate the lmage pritection, Harry was stripped of his autonomy and unfairly labelled and defined as TOB’s attitude was projected unto him.
After the Sussexes left due to previously reported circumstances, it is alleged that TOB was up most nights drinking and raging whilst living in a separate from his immediate family. His wife’s weight was down to 90 pounds. Her efforts to save the marriage and ridiculous claims of self importance was duly noted.
Now that the Sussexes have regained their autonomy, they chose to counter the inaccuracies by explaining why they left in an interview, it exposed TOB’s pathological expectations of his brother by his ongoing reaction to said interview.
It is, as if, he owns him, his well being and wellness is unimportant, not to mention his responsibities as a husband and father, as long as he submit to be his doormat/scape-goat.
Why is Harry’s pending memoirs a threat? It is his story based on his experiences, it will be the final say as to whom he is, his self definition. But one would not be suprised to find out embarassing details of TOB by self reporting – a by-product of shame and guilt?
It seems like the Queen has had enough and insisted that he was checked. He was made aware that his brother’s contribution to the institution is more substantive that his despite their titled positions and that he cannot control his brother, since Harry and Meghan is earning a living, separate from the family.
His father was forced to take action by probably reduction of staff? reiterating that he expects both Harry and Meghan to return to assist in his reign? and so on.
After the naming of Liliabet Diana fiasco, the incorrect reporting based on the inability to distingush between given name and given title. The Queen has had enough.
The habit of smearing has continued with new targets, due to the father’s saying ‘No’ in a number of mirade ways. He is the new target. TOB, starved for ‘supply’ find a new feeding ground. Sending healing energy his way, NPD is simply hell, for person who has it and especially for the ‘supply’.
So happy for Harry, Meghan, Archie and Lily Diana.
That’s a great post Well Wisher.
+++
Such an excellent analysis Well Wisher. Narcissistic people are hell for everyone including themselves. The only way to end the abuse is to leave it.
After reading so many of these comments, it occurred to me — and to be clear, I personally DO NOT believe this at all — that even if Meghan was only with him because he was a prince and she wanted to raise her profile, not because she truly loved him, I still think it was worth it for Harry to marry, have children, and GTFO of that toxic situation with her. She was the catalyst for him finally taking decisive action and changing his life for the better, doing many things he’d wanted to do for years, but never having an impetus to actually take the leap. He is so much happier and lighter now, it’s written all over his face. He has the children he’s always wanted and he is probably such a wonderful father.
So even if this was some grand plan on Meghan’s part (and again I have *never* thought for one moment that Meghan was some master schemer; I believe they’re soul mates very much in love with each other) to be back in LA, except now she’s a much more famous household name, living in a house comparable to Oprah’s and having people like Beyoncé wish her a happy birthday— even if her love for Harry is all fake, it’s STILL better than him remaining where he was, in that disgusting family, under William’s thumb. Things only would have gotten worse once William became King and Harry was 100% dependent on him.
But I have always believed that Meghan and Harry were truly meant for each other, and that she’s every bit in love with him as he is with her. They complement each other beautifully and are doing great things with Archewell. Even if that wasn’t the case, though, I firmly believe Harry is still far better off where he is than where he was back in the UK, forever walking a step behind William and being forced to clean up all of his brother’s sh!t in the press.
Lorelei, I agree with you totally. I truly believe they are each other’s soulmate as well. They saved each other.
What this shows me is that William didn’t really know Harry if he thought the smear campaign would have lead to Harry leaving Meghan and his son and remaining loyal to the Crown. And Charles didn’t intervene because he finally got what he wanted which was him and William to be on the same side.
They clearly aren’t on the same side, or we wouldn’t be getting high up people like Jamie Lowther P publicly going on about the need for William to be king now.
And this is our future (future) King, a big man- child 🙄
“Prince William” needs to realise that he is a 40 year old man with three kids and start growing the hell up 🙄🙄
does anyone know if there’s really something wrong w William? Like an actual diagnosis? I know he was hit on the head as a kid, so maybe CTE? Or is he really limited intellectually somehow? I know it’s so wrong to speculate so apologies if this is offensive, I just wonder.
A commenter on here once told a story that was pretty salacious and I can’t remember the specifics – that it’s been rumored that William was hard core on drugs, as in may have overdosed or had attempted suicide. That he has or has had serious depression or more severe mental health problems. CTE can definitely contribute to that and given that by all accounts that he was a spoiled terror as a child even before the head injury, that probably didn’t help, nor did the drugs.
wow… it just occurred to me — and I know we talk about it a lot here — but putting it all together, how everyone seems to tiptoe around him, that none of the women in his circle wanted him, that Carole seems to see him like a child, and how every once in a while it slips out that Kate is the rock, not that I believe that, but it may be what she’s told behind the scenes. And sounds like what they tried to put on Harry. Sad really (except for his abuse of others of course…)
William can’t get over the fact Harry chose his black wife and children over him. Period. William cares about the monarchy only because he would be penniless and irrelevant without his titles and he knows this. It irks him to no end that people respect and love Harry regardless of his royal status, and he knows that he wouldn’t garner the same if he wasn’t the FFK. As for Charles, he isn’t concerned about the siblings’ fight. He doesn’t like his own siblings. He is concerned for the monarchy, his reign. Beyond that, he’s just keeping his head down and letting Harry & William have the headlines.
If he wasn’t the FFK, he’d just be another guy who likes football.
This!
William is what happens when a 2 year old is told no in Target. Only he was never told no and his tantrum is never ending. He is a narcissistic jerk who will not ever be told no. Harry was supposed to be his toy forever and he alone was supposed to control him. William is almost understandable in this because that whole family treats each other like chess pieces instead of people and they destroy each other at random with no concern for the emotional carnage. He hates Meghan because the she is the smart girl in school who made him look bad and she took his toy. Only the toy was a man who grew up and fell in love and did what a grown man with integrity and actual adult feeling would do he protected his family and chose to preserve his adult dreams of a loving home. They all hate Harry with a few exceptions, because he is the only one in the lot of them who managed to grow all the way up. William never will get beyond the 2 year old stomping on his toy stage. Lord knows his father never did.
He alone was supposed to control harry
Yep. Its why you see so many mothers treat their daughters in law like they are their husband’s mistress or something
-they dont want another woman having a say in their sons life and really a more significant influential role than her moving forward
I will tell you what Willy needs but never got. A good hard slap. He is A spoiled as they come. What Willy wants, Willy should never have gotten. I completely blame his father and the palaces for encouraging and molding and creating this dictator wannabe. Should have nipped this in the bud since childhood and stop using Harry to cover William horrible behavior. No should have been said to him daily but it wasn’t so this is what we are left with.
Go continue to be happy Harry, william problems aren’t yours.
You can’t tell me that william isn’t in need of deep Thearpy, if Harry needed it. Then how the heck doesn’t william need it more.
I know you mean well, and I agree w a lot of this, but pls don’t say a “good hard slap” — personal experience, but that can be v traumatizing for a child, and not helpful.
+1. Seeing comments that normalize or minimize physical violence of any kind can be deeply damaging to people who’ve experienced it.
I have wondered about domestic abuse for a long time . It makes me feel even more contemptuous of The Middletons . She’s been seen accompanying them on journeys and was the ‘housekeeper’ at Anmer. Is she a buffer keeping her daughter safe? A keeper of secrets that William is indebted to? The whole situation is poisonous and creepy,
I would read about how william behaved during the breakup, celebrating and being seen with other women. Most women with any sense of self esteem would have walked away and never looked back. He also made not so nice comments about Kate when they dated. He told his friends he had “sex” (Kate) waiting for him in his room when he was on a ski trip.
I worry about William and Kate’s children especially the “spares” If William could try to be judgmental over Harry’ choice of wife, he would IMO do the same with his children. If Charlotte was set on marrying someone and William would advise her to “take things slow” I hope she would have the gumption Harry has and ignore the “advice” of William. There could be some unhappy children if Wiliam tries to stop them from marrying their choices.
@Tessa I feel terrible for the children as well. Even if William wasn’t a raging prick, their lives will be hellishly documented in tabloids. The fact that their father is such a miserable person — and that Harry leaving has made it so much worse, with him seemingly angry *all the time* — their home life can’t be too pleasant right now.
Their father uses them as props, and their mother is a doormat who will tolerate anything as long as she gets to become the Princess of Wales. I hope there’s someone who is looking out for those kids with ONLY their best interests in mind. Nanny Maria seems great and has been a stable presence in their lives for as long as they can remember, but W&K come across as people who would fire her immediately if she said or did anything that they saw as being “out of line,” even if it was for the good of the children.
William has so little ACTUAL power that I can definitely see him exercising what little he has by being a tyrant when it comes to the kids.
William is very fragile so I don’t doubt he’ll never forgive or forget Harry for rocking his boat. I had higher hopes for William but he’s proven to be a such a manipulator and backstabber.
William is a vile and jealous person. He’s mad crazy that his brother is more popular than him. So he did everything he could to bring down his brother’s popularity through the evil British rota clowns. Now that polls say his brother’s rating has plummeted he still doesn’t stop smearing him and his wife. He wants blood. Such an a..hole brother ! You will never be forgiven TOB.