Prince Harry has said he is ready to repair his strained relationships with his father, King Charles, and his brother, Prince William. In a new interview with GQ, recorded in New York in September and released on Tuesday, the Duke of Sussex said: "Some people don't want it to work out. I want it to work out. With everything else that's going on in the world, the most important thing is to reconcile — that's the key point."
He added that scars stick around forever, but people should let go of the past, and that there is "enough drama in the world" without continuing family issues. When asked if the rift could be repaired, he answered, "Yeah, of course." He also admitted that he grieves being estranged from William, calling it "another massively relatable issue for so many people." This is his framing and his understanding of the situation. He is presenting himself as the one who wants it to work out, and is treating the past as something that should be moved past.
"Some people don't want it to work out. I want it to work out. With everything else that's going on in the world, the most important thing is to reconcile — that's the key point." — Prince Harry to GQ
The other side has already told him what the cost of his path would be. When he and Meghan stepped back as working royals in 2020, the position was clear: they could not stay half-in and half-out. The security disputes, the loss of the official role, and the ongoing distance from Prince William have all shown the price of the choices he made — the interviews, the memoir, and the public criticism. The brothers are believed not to have spoken in years, and were last pictured together at Queen Elizabeth's funeral in September 2022.
That price is still being itemized. Harry and Meghan made a surprise return to Britain in August with their children, Archie, 7, and Lilibet, 5 — and within days, a letter sent on the King's behalf on September 7 made clear the couple remain non-working royals, a message the BBC and Associated Press reported they had not been told about in advance. They are not living in a royal residence, the location of their home is being kept private amid security concerns, and they had to move their children to a new school not long after term started because of security worries. On Tuesday, as Harry's interview was published, Charles, Queen Camilla and the Prince and Princess of Wales were at Windsor welcoming the Sultan of Oman for a state visit — the first incoming state visit since the Sussexes returned. Harry and Meghan, no longer working royals, took no part in it.
After the interview aired, a spokesman for the Sussexes said the "some people" remark was "absolutely not intended as a swipe at his brother or any other member of his family," and that the comment was made in a general context and was not directed at his family in any way.
He is privileged to be part of this family. That privilege has always come with limits. He chose the cost. The family made it plain. Experience is supposed to teach what that cost is. So far it has not. He can want reconciliation. The other side has already shown the price of the path he chose.