Prince Harry must leave his brother Prince William alone if he wants any hope of reconciliation, a royal commentator has said. Alex Armstrong, a GB News presenter, said the Duke of Sussex should stop discussing the Royal Family publicly and concentrate on his charitable work if he genuinely wants to repair their fractured relationship.
Speaking on the Daily Expresso podcast, Mr Armstrong suggested Harry's repeated public comments about the family could be undermining his own efforts to rebuild bridges. Discussing reports that William no longer wants anything to do with his brother, presenter JJ Anisiobi said: "William doesn't want anything to do with Harry. Sources are saying - I think this is the worst sentence they could get from William - he's no longer angry, he just feels apathy towards his brother... If William is not willing to reconcile, do you think Harry should now shut up and never answer another question about the Royal Family?"
Advice to Stop Talking
Mr Armstrong replied: "It would help if he just stopped talking about it all and just said to journalists 'I don't want to talk about that, I want to talk about this charity work I'm doing.' If he wants to have that reconciliation he's got to shut up."
His comments came after Harry renewed his appeal for reconciliation with his father, King Charles, and older brother William in an interview with GQ magazine. The Duke of Sussex said he wanted to resolve the family rift, insisting: "Some people don't want it to work out. I want it to work out."
Harry's Public Appeal
He added: "With everything else that's going on in the world, the most important thing is to reconcile - that's the key point."
Harry's latest comments have once again drawn attention to the bitter breakdown in relations between the brothers, whose relationship has been strained for years following his decision to step back from royal duties with his wife Meghan Markle in 2020. The Sussexes subsequently discussed their experiences of royal life in a series of high-profile interviews and a Netflix documentary, before Harry published his memoir, Spare, in 2023. The book included his account of a physical confrontation with William, further exposing the depth of the brothers' estrangement.
Call to Let Go of the Past
Despite the tensions, Harry has continued to express a desire to repair relations with his family. In the GQ interview, he described family breakdowns as a subject many people could relate to, pointing to disagreements between siblings and parents. He said he understood why people were fascinated by the prospect of the family resolving its differences, adding that some might draw inspiration from seeing the brothers work things out.
Harry also urged people to let go of the past. He said: "Scars stick around forever. But what your perception is, and what your mindset is to these things that have happened, letting go of the past, that's something that I would encourage everybody to do."
However, a spokesman for the Sussexes later clarified that Harry's remark about some people not wanting reconciliation was not intended as a swipe at William or any other member of the Royal Family. The interview was recorded in September and published this week, as the Royal Family carried out official engagements in Windsor.
