Prince Harry showed off his sense of humor during a UK visit on Monday, but his jokes about sibling struggles carried an extra sting given his fractured bond with his brother, Prince William.
The Duke of Sussex attended a reception ahead of the 2025 WellChild Awards, where he chatted with 17-year-old award winner Declan Bitmead. When Bitmead mentioned he had a younger brother, Harry quipped, “Does he drive you mad?” After hearing that the two got along, the royal laughed and replied, “You know what, siblings.” He added that sharing the same school with a sibling can make things “more challenging.”
Harry’s lighthearted remarks stood out because of his well-documented fallout with William. In his 2023 memoir Spare, Harry claimed his older brother distanced himself during their school years at Eton, even insisting they pretend not to know each other. Speaking to Anderson Cooper at the time, Harry admitted: “I couldn’t make sense of it. I was like, ‘What do you mean? We’re now at the same school. I haven’t seen you for ages.’ But he was like, ‘No, no, no, when we’re at school, we don’t know each other.’ And I took that personally.”
The estranged brothers are not expected to cross paths during Harry’s latest trip. Kensington Palace confirmed that William, 43, will be occupied with royal engagements this week, coinciding with Harry’s stay in the UK.
Harry, 40, traveled solo without Meghan Markle and their children, Archie, 6, and Lilibet, 4. Alongside attending the WellChild Awards — a charity he has supported since 2007 — the duke is also set to visit the Community Recording Studio in Nottingham on Tuesday, where he will announce a major donation to Children in Need to help tackle youth violence.
Despite the tension, friends say Harry hasn’t given up hope of reuniting his family with the UK. “He wants to be able to show his children where he grew up,” a source told The Sunday Times. “He wants them to know their family here. He really would like to come back much more.”
