Prince William has every reason to be furious with his younger brother - who could blame him? Prince Harry turned private family pain into global entertainment, laid bare deeply personal conversations in Spare and spent years criticising the institution William will one day inherit.
But the Duke of Sussex is back in Britain now, Meghan Markle and their children are here too, and pretending the brothers can simply live parallel lives forever feels increasingly unrealistic. The Sussexes returned to the UK last month after six years in California, while the royal has since thrown himself into engagements for Invictus, Save the Children and WellChild.
Estrangement remains despite return
Reports suggest Prince William and his younger brother remain estranged, despite Harry previously making clear that he is open to reconciliation. At some point, this stops being merely a bitter feud between two brothers and becomes unfinished business hanging over the future King.
Nobody should expect the Prince of Wales to simply forget what happened. The Duke spoke publicly about his brother, his wife, intensely private family moments, and trust shattered on that scale is not rebuilt over one cup of tea. But reconciliation does not require Prince William to pretend the past never happened.
It could simply mean establishing boundaries, deciding what relationship is possible and ending the extraordinary situation where the late Princess Diana's two sons appear unable even to sit down together.
King Charles has shown contact is possible
King Charles has already shown that contact is possible. In July, he met Harry, Meghan, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet at Highgrove - his first meeting with the children since 2022.
William does not have to follow his father's timetable. But silence cannot be the only long-term strategy.
Prince William is not simply Prince Harry's brother. He is the heir to the throne. And when he eventually becomes King, the Sussex question does not magically disappear.
A future King's unresolved problem
Harry and Meghan remain non-working royals, and that boundary can stay exactly where it is. But Harry will still be the King's brother, while Archie, 7, and Lilibet, 5, will remain part of the wider Royal Family.
Their return to Britain makes that reality harder to ignore. The Sussexes are already rebuilding a life here, their children have started school, and Harry's security arrangements are undergoing a fresh RAVEC review now that the family are UK residents.
A functioning monarchy does not require everybody to be best friends. But a future King, permanently estranged from his only brother, leaves an unresolved family drama sitting beside the institution he is trying to modernise. That is hardly ideal.
Diana's sons have already lost enough
Perhaps this is the point that matters most. Prince William and Prince Harry lost their mother when they were 15 and 12. They then spent decades sharing an experience almost nobody else could understand.
Now Earl Spencer's memoir has once again dragged Diana's death, funeral and fractured relationships back into the headlines, reopening arguments nearly 30 years later.
How desperately sad if Diana's two boys eventually become defined not by what bound them together, but by the years they spent apart. All families row. Some betray one another, say unforgivable things and need distance. The Windsors simply have the misfortune of doing it with the entire world watching.
Prince William does not owe Harry instant forgiveness, and Harry still has enormous work to do if trust is ever to be rebuilt. But there is a difference between maintaining boundaries and allowing a family fracture to calcify forever.
For the sake of themselves, their children, and the Crown William will one day inherit, surely the brothers at least need to know where they stand.
Reconciliation does not have to mean walking side by side on a palace balcony. Sometimes it simply means finally walking into the same room.
