Credit: Tim Rooke/Shutterstock
December 2022
During the second part of Harry & Meghan, Harry opened up about how the rift with his brother widened following his exit from the royal family. In the days before the couple announced their plans to step down from the royal family, Harry met with William, Charles and Elizabeth at Sandringham to discuss the Sussexes’ options — and it allegedly didn’t go well. “It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me, and my father say things that just simply weren’t true, and my grandmother quietly sit there, and sort of take it all in,” he said, adding that he didn’t blame the late monarch for her reaction. “But you have to understand that — from the family’s perspective — especially from hers, there are ways of doing things, and her ultimate sort of mission, goal, slash responsibility is the institution.”
Harry went on to say that the tension with William has been the most upsetting part of the whole situation. “I mean, the saddest part of it was this wedge created between myself and my brother, so that he’s now on the institution’s side,” he explained. “Part of that, I get. I understand, right? That’s his inheritance. So, to some extent it’s already ingrained in him that part of his responsibility is the survivability and the continuation of this institution.”
The BetterUp CIO also claimed that William released a joint statement denying reports that he “bullied” Harry and Meghan out of the institution without asking for Harry’s thoughts. “I couldn’t believe it. No one had asked me,” Harry said. “No one had asked me permission to put my name to a statement like that.”
The Archewell cofounders went on to allege that William’s aide Jason Knauf submitted a witness statement against Meghan during her lawsuit against the Daily Mail — with permission from William’s office. Knauf, for his part, denied the claim in a statement shared in the docuseries, while William has not publicly responded to the accusation.
After a “hard” reunion with Charles and William at Philip’s funeral, Harry said he doesn’t believe he and his relatives will ever fully address their issues. “I’ve had to make peace with the fact that we’re probably never gonna get genuine accountability or a genuine apology,” he said. “My wife and I, we’re moving on. We’re focused on what’s coming next.”
