One thing has become abundantly clear in the past week: Prince William will have to be dragged kicking and screaming into any meeting with his brother, nevermind “reconciling” with Prince Harry. William has been throwing a hissy fit at the very *idea* that he might need to loosen up and shake Harry’s hand for the good of the monarchy. What’s also funny is that William’s office is clearly sending out talking points to friendly royal reporters about all of this too. The Daily Mail’s Becky English ranted about how William should be “applauded” for refusing to speak to Harry. Other outlets have begun to soft-launch the idea that William will boycott any and all events (even family events like Christmas) which include Harry. Well, obviously, the Mail’s Richard Eden also got the talking points. His column this week starts with the wall-to-wall buzz around the Sussexes’ UK return, and then he’s like… *sad clown noise* the only people not excited are Prince William and Kate.

The Cotswolds, where [Harry & Meghan] had previously rented a country home, was seen as their most likely destination and it sometimes seems as if there was scarcely anyone left in the area’s 800 square miles across six English counties who had not contacted me to provide exclusive information on the Sussexes’ supposed whereabouts. If the couple thought Los Angeles was gossip central, wait until they have spent a few weeks among the country bumpkins of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire!

Two people who are determined to ignore the second coming of Meghan and Harry are his estranged brother and sister-in-law, the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Many believe that this situation cannot persist, with Prince William coming under increasing pressure to send Harry an olive branch or two. My esteemed colleague Richard Kay argued in a compelling Voices video for the Daily Mail’s website that William can’t continue to ignore his younger brother.

‘At some stage they are going to have to engage, because they can’t not engage forever,’ Kay said. ‘I would have thought that in the first instance there would need to be a private meeting between Harry and William and presumably Catherine and Meghan, too, where they can sort of hammer out some kind of official line, even if it’s sort of grip and grin in public, but at least show there is some kind of public-spirited sense of reunion between the two.’

Kay said the estrangement could not be allowed to fester for weeks or months. ‘The public won’t stand for it,’ he said. ‘William knows that, above all, his responsibility to the monarchy, to the institution, has to take first place, so he’ll have to put whatever personal differences he has to one side.’

I rarely disagree with my friend Richard, but on this I do. The pressure being put on William and Catherine is unfair and wrong. They have been treated appallingly by Harry and Meghan and should feel no compulsion to mend fences with them. The Sussexes betrayed and insulted the couple not only in their Oprah Winfrey interview but in their Netflix series, Harry’s memoir Spare and in a seemingly endless stream of interviews that Harry gave.

A friend of William and Catherine tells me that they will go on ignoring the Sussexes. ‘It makes no difference if Harry and Meghan are in Oxfordshire, California or Timbuktu,’ the pal insists. ‘William and Catherine will continue their lives of public service. They intend to lead by example.’

A Kensington Palace spokesman declines to comment.

[From The Daily Mail]

What’s being left unsaid is that the Sussexes have made zero move to see William and Kate either. Yes, the Sussexes quite literally moved back to Britain and yes, Harry has said some general stuff about wanting to end the family rift. But Harry and Meghan have been silent on the specific subject of “reconciling with Will and Kate.” When you look at it from that direction, it feels like William’s people have spent the past fortnight screaming, crying and throwing up about how William and Kate will ignore the Sussexes, they’re not even thinking of the Sussexes, they’re never going to talk to the Sussexes EVER! It’s giving kindergarten. A 44-year-old future king is throwing a very loud tantrum about his little brother. That’s all this is.

Also: “William and Catherine will continue their lives of public service. They intend to lead by example.” They are two of the laziest people in the world, ensconced in privilege and at the tailend of a two-month summer vacation.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid and Instar.