Tom Sykes at the Daily Beast got some interesting quotes from an unnamed friend of Prince William and Prince Harry. It’s probably the same “friend” who has provided endless quotes to Sykes about how William “absolutely f–king hates” his brother and sister-in-law, and how the next time William will speak to Harry will be at their father’s funeral. Even one month ago, these unnamed friends-of-Bill were insisting that William and Kate “will never reconcile” with the Sussexes, especially after Kate was outed as one of the racist royals. Now that Kate has a health crisis and the slimmed-down monarchy is under significant strain, suddenly friends-of-Bill are singing a different tune. Funny that. Some highlights from the Royalist column:

Kate will act as peacemaker, you guys: One old friend of Kate, William, and Harry, who went to school with the brothers but has not spoken regularly to Harry since he emigrated to America in 2020, told The Daily Beast: “Health problems do tend to put everything else in perspective. If Harry and Meghan have made an effort to reach out to Kate to offer their best wishes, Kate will reciprocate. William would quite happily never speak to either of them again, but Kate’s a peacemaker at heart. She would definitely be open to using this situation to build bridges. Never waste a good crisis, right?”

Harry & Kate used to be close? This friend said: “You have to remember that Kate and Harry were exceptionally close. He adored her, and she provided a sense of stability after the chaos of his youth. I actually can’t imagine a world in which he wouldn’t have sent her a note, despite everything. Everyone in the family has, frankly, had enough of the whole feud narrative. It’s way past time the whole thing was put to bed. Trust has been damaged, and I don’t think they are ever going to be calling each other for a heart to heart like the old days, but it’s time to move on.”

Charles would welcome his sons’ reconciliation: Kensington Palace did not respond to a request for comment on whether Kate had received a message from Harry and Meghan, and if she had responded or intended to. However, there is little doubt that King Charles would hugely welcome friendly overtures from William and Kate to his younger son, as he has shown himself keen to promulgate an image of family unity in recent months, most notably by including the once-disgraced Sarah Ferguson in the family group walk to church on Christmas Day last month.

William would be willing to reconcile with Harry for the good of his reign as king: Speaking to friends of the royals in recent months, it is quite clear that the extent of the breakdown in relations between William and his brother really cannot be underestimated. One friend previously told The Daily Beast that William “absolutely f–king hates” Harry. But William is also enormously conscious of his responsibilities to the institution. While he may have his reservations about his father’s policy of putting family unity before all else, he probably also knows that in the very long run, few people are going to regard a king who doesn’t speak to his own brother as a solid role model, or a unifying example of the best of British.

William might do something performatively: The Windsors have always been good—too good some might say—at putting duty before personal considerations. By making noises suggesting he would be open to reconciling with his brother, at least performatively, the ball is back in William’s court. The question will be whether William can subsume his personal anger and put his arm around his brother again—even if it is just for the cameras at first. William’s convalescing wife may be critical in helping him make that decision.

[From The Daily Beast]

It sounds like people around William are telling him that his childish incandescent rage towards Harry and Meghan is not a good look longterm. But is William listening? My guess is no. Plus, William and Kate are still desperately trying to put the onus on Harry – Harry must contact them, Harry must make the effort, Harry must do this or that so Kate can pretend to be the grand peacemaker. Harry made it pretty clear, in his own memoir, that he was never particularly close to Kate and that William assaulted him. William and Kate were both wildly disrespectful to Harry’s wife. We keep learning more sh-t about what went down in 2018-2020, to the point where it’s abundantly clear that the brothers’ estrangement was a long time coming and arguably the healthiest solution. Still, it’s incredibly “interesting” that someone wants this narrative out there – that William might need Harry around, that Kate’s hospitalization is some kind of game changer for the brothers’ relationship.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.