Prince William “will not be losing sleep” over Prince Harry’s meeting with King Charles III in Britain but “still feels betrayed,” a royal biographer told Newsweek.
The drama surrounding Harry’s visit to the U.K. dominated media attention as William visited a London school, traveled to Hastings and took part in a charity polo match watched by the Princess of Wales.
The Prince of Wales was largely a bystander as tensions escalated between Buckingham Palace and Harry over police protection, a withdrawn accommodation offer and a failed lawsuit against Associated Newspapers. On Friday, Harry, Meghan Markle and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, spent time with Charles and Queen Camilla at Highgrove, the king’s private residence in Gloucestershire.
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Robert Jobson, author of the biography The Windsor Legacy, told Newsweek: “William will not be losing sleep, over his father’s afternoon meeting with his brother and family, but nor will he be softening. He feels betrayed. He does not trust his brother. That is personal, and it is settled.”
Newsweek approached Kensington Palace for comment.
Why It Matters
Some royal commentators have debated whether a rapprochement between Charles and Harry could complicate William’s position. The prince cut off Harry years ago and has not seen him since the aftermath of Queen Elizabeth II’s death in September 2022.
While Harry’s visit attracted much media attention, it was a prelude to a bigger visit next year when Harry brings the Invictus Games to Britain. Charles will have a decision to make about whether to attend the opening ceremony of the games.
What the Sussex Visit Means for William
For William, the arrival in Britain of his younger brother generated significant media coverage in the U.K. media in the run-up and during the week of public engagements Harry conducted in London and Birmingham, promoting Invictus and other charities.
That may have diverted attention from his visit to the London Welsh School on Tuesday as well as a Thursday visit to Hastings, on the south coast of England, where he spoke to fishermen about the impact of warmer seas and played crazy golf.
On Friday, the Princess of Wales joined William at Guards Polo Club, in Windsor, where she watched him take part in The Royal Charity Polo Cup 2026, hours before news of the meeting between the Sussexes and the king broke.
William did not meet Harry, but the rift between the brothers has become so entrenched that royal commentators years ago stopped speculating about whether they would see each other.
Ingrid Seward, author of My Mother and I, told Newsweek: “I don’t think William would give it the time of day. His attitude is ‘let them all get on with it, I don’t want to get involved.’ Just complete disinterest.”
“Harry and Meghan are on the outside and I don’t think William has any intention of speaking to Harry, why should he? At this stage, he has no reason to speak to Harry. He’s not been asked for a rapprochement. Harry just wanted to meet with his father, which is perfectly fair.”
Prince Harry Roller-Coaster Week
Newsweek was told that Harry was in good spirits after what his camp acknowledged was a difficult week, which included a high-profile court defeat. The Sussex team felt they had largely recovered by Friday afternoon, when Harry and Meghan Markle took Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet to Highgrove.
Archie, 7, and Lilibet, 5, had not seen the king since 2022, when they were 3 and 1, giving them one of their first opportunities to spend meaningful time with their grandfather.
It was a positive conclusion to two tense weeks that began when the couple were denied police protection by the British government on June 26. Newsweek was told that the decision left Harry distraught because he had anticipated a new threat assessment that he believed could result in his police protection being reinstated.
When the risk protection did not materialize, some in Harry’s camp suspected palace intervention, as several senior Royal Household employees sit on the RAVEC, the Home Office committee that makes such decisions. The palace remains adamant that royal aides simply advise the committee chair on the impact of such decisions and do not make them.
Relations deteriorated further on July 4, when Harry officially declined an offer of accommodation at Buckingham Palace, only to reverse course later in the day and attempt to accept.
He was then told it was too late. Newsweek was told that the palace was also concerned that Harry’s stay would overlap with the judgment in a privacy lawsuit he filed against Associated Newspapers Ltd., publisher of the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday.
The judgment coincidentally fell on the same day William visited the London Welsh School, where the prince shared a joke about the World Cup with a student. The prince asked: “Do you think England are going to do well?” He laughed as the boy replied: “Hopefully not!”
Harry lost his lawsuit against Associated Newspapers on all allegations before the court, prompting a shared statement with fellow claimant, racial justice campaigner Baroness Doreen Lawrence, denouncing the judgment as a “complete and obvious whitewash.”
By Friday, Harry began his biggest public event of the visit, a trip to Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre to mark one year until the city hosts the 2027 Invictus Games, Harry’s adaptive sports tournament for veterans. It was after that appearance that the Sussexes went to Highgrove to meet the king.
No Return to ‘Half-In, Half-Out’
One question that has lingered is whether warmer relations between Harry and Charles could pave the way for efforts by the prince to negotiate the “half-in, half-out” deal that was rejected by Queen Elizabeth II in 2020.
However, Jobson said that was not in the cards: “Harry chose what he called freedom, and he chose Montecito, and the King has never stood in his way. But half-in, half-out was ruled out by the late Queen, Charles upheld it, and William will not reopen it.”
Harry’s hope had been to pursue commercial opportunities in the U.S. while continuing to represent the monarchy, splitting his time between Britain and North America.
In his book, Spare, Harry described a meeting with senior royals and their aides in January 2020, which has come to be known as the Sandringham Summit, in which five options were considered. The first would have involved remaining a full-time working royal, while the fifth amounted to a complete departure.
“I’d consulted with several Palace veterans, people who knew the inner workings of the monarchy and its history, and they all said Option 3 was best for all parties,” the prince wrote.
“Meg and I living elsewhere part of the year, continuing our work, retaining security, returning to Britain for charities, ceremonies, events. Sensible solution, these Palace veterans said. And eminently doable. But the family, of course, pushed me to take Option 1. Barring that, they would only accept Option 5.”
Jobson argued that the events of the past week would reinforce opposition within royal circles to any revival of a “half-in, half-out” arrangement.
He drew particular attention to Harry’s reaction to losing against the Mail titles and also a past lawsuit he filed against the U.K. Home Office seeking the return of his Metropolitan Police bodyguards, which he lost at the Court of Appeal in May 2025. At the time, he described the ruling as a “good, old-fashioned establishment stitch-up.”
“You cannot monetize a monarchy,” Jobson said. “You cannot sue the government that governs in your father’s name, question the independence of the courts when they rule against you, and make a crusade of curbing a free press—and still expect a place inside the institution.”
Prince William’s PR High
William and Catherine ended the week of royal turmoil on a high note of their own, by taking their children to watch the tennis at Wimbledon, an event that has delivered a PR boost to the Wales family before.
Catherine got a standing ovation on Centre Court in July 2024 during her second public appearance since revealing she had been receiving chemotherapy for cancer. She is currently in remission.
On Saturday, Kate attended the ladies’ singles final, while on Sunday, William and Kate took Prince George and Princess Charlotte to the men’s singles final, where the family watched Jannik Sinner win for the second year running.
“They’ve all loved tennis since they were tiny,” Seward said. “They are great fans and it was a big family show.”
The timing of the event was coincidental and the Waleses would always have gone, given that Kate is patron of The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, which hosts Wimbledon.
However, it gave the Waleses a chance to show their star power after a week in which royal reporting was dominated by Harry’s efforts to rebuild bridges. Jobson told Newsweek that William would be in no rush to take part in reconciliation.
“Father and son is not brother and brother, and grandfather and grandchildren is different again,” Jobson said. “Charles can do this [meet Harry]. William is under no obligation to follow, and he will not be rushed into it. The distance stands.”
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Daniel Orton and Dave Siminoff.