Prince William, Prince Harry. Gareth Fuller/AP/Shutterstock
Staying tight-lipped. Prince William was asked about brother Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare, while attending a charity event — but refused to comment on the controversial material.
The Prince and Princess of Wales, both 40, made an appearance at the Open Door charity in Merseyside, England, on Thursday, January 12, when reporter Inzamam Rashid of Sky News asked William if he’d “had a chance to read your brother’s book at all?”
When the Duke of Cornwall ignored Rashid’s first question, the reporter tried a second time. “Have you had a chance to read your brother’s book at all?” he called out. Although seemingly within earshot, the prince once again refused to comment, instead heading out the door into a waiting vehicle with his wife.
Rashid later posted a video from the moment via Twitter, writing, “No answer from Prince William as to whether he’s read his brother’s book or not…”
Earlier in the day, William and Princess Kate made a stop at Royal Liverpool University Hospital, where they officially opened the new medical hub. Upon their arrival, the couple continued to ignore journalists as they shouted questions about the younger prince’s book. However, it was difficult to tell if the pair were actively ignoring reporters or simply couldn’t hear over the loud gusts of wind.
The couple’s engagements come just two days after Harry, 38, released Spare, which delved deep into the loss of Princess Diana, his upbringing and friction within the royal family — including with older brother William.
In an excerpt from the memoir, which hit bookshelves on Tuesday, January 10, the BetterUp CIO detailed a particularly ugly fight between the pair in 2019 over Harry’s wife, Meghan Markle.
“It all happened so fast. So very fast,” the Invictus Games founder wrote. “He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. I landed on the dogs’ bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me. I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out.”
Harry alleged that the altercation occurred after William called the Fringe alum, 41, “difficult” and “rude.” During his Sunday, January 9, interview with Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes, Harry further explained what spawned the vicious argument.
“It was a buildup of — frustration, I think, on his part. It was at a time where he was being told certain things by people within his office. And at the same time, he was consuming a lot of the tabloid press, a lot of the stories,” Harry told Cooper, 55. “And he had a few issues which were based not on reality. And I was defending my wife. And he was coming for my wife — she wasn’t there at the time but through the things that he was saying. I was defending myself.”
While neither William nor Buckingham Palace has publicly commented on the situation, a source exclusively told Us Weekly on Wednesday, January 11, that the Royal Military Academy alum is “absolutely horrified” by the claims made in Harry’s book and subsequent interviews.
“[William] doesn’t even recognize his own brother anymore,” the insider revealed. “He wants to believe that there’s hope for peace down the line, but it’s hard.”
According to the source, William “doesn’t see how” his brother can “come back into the fold” of the royal family, adding that he’s turned off by how “rude and insulting” Harry has been toward him, Princess Kate and their father, King Charles III, in the “explosive” and “embarrassing” autobiography.
While the two have clearly found themselves at odds over the years, Harry revealed in Spare that William eventually apologized for their heated exchange.
The Archwell cofounder explained that the duo’s relationship is complex, but rooted in admiration, referring to William as both his “archnemesis” and “beloved brother.”
“My brother and I love each other. I love him deeply,” Harry explained during his 60 minutes interview. “There has been a lot of pain between the two of us, especially the last six years. None of anything I’ve written — anything that I’ve included — is ever intended to hurt my family,”