William and Harry fell out years before Megxit, claims royal author who says they were on ‘no speaks’ 20 years ago

PRINCES William and Harry fell out years before ‘Megxit’, claims a royal author who says they have been on ‘no speaks’ on and off for the past two decades.

Royal biographer Robert Lacey claims things first became frosty for the brothers the year it was discovered that Harry had been smoking cannabis in 2002.

Getty

AFP

Getty

AP

Not only this, but there was further humiliation for Harry three years later, when he was pictured wearing a Nazi desert uniform to a Colonials and Natives fancy dress party held at the home of Olympic gold-medal winning showjumper Richard Meade.

Amid the uproar, Harry issued a public apology and at the time, Charles sent him off to be lectured by the Chief Rabbi.

According to Robert, Harry feels annoyed that he took all the blame from such incidents.

Robert, writing in his book Battle of Brothers, says: “Meghan was not the original factor in Prince Harry’s decision to get shot of his family.

“In January 2005 following the “Colonials and Natives” costume fiasco, we now know that Prince Harry was drawn to re-evaluate his elder brother’s involvement and the unfairness of William’s emergence smelling of roses.

“It made Harry feel alienated. Friends recall “no speaks” and quite a serious rift between the brothers at the time – as there had been after the “Drugs Shame” of 2002, when Harry had first started to realise the price of playing the functional scapegoat.”

Harry resented the fact that William got away so lightly

Katie Nicholl, author and journalist

On that occasion, Lacey penned that Harry and his friend Guy Pelly had taken the blame for the ‘wild antics’ at the Rattlebone pub, “when the real Rattlebone ring leader had been William.”

As well as this, author and journalist Katie Nicholl recalled one royal aide telling her that “for the first time their relationship really suffered and they barely spoke… Harry resented the fact that William got away so lightly.”

Lacey concluded: “It was the function of the elder brother to be perfect whether he truly was or was not and it was the function of the younger one to make the rest of us laugh or complain or feel disapproving – and at all events to make us feel thoroughly superior to the poor clueless kid.

“This was the role that all of us shaped for Prince Harry over the years.”

It follows after Meghan Markle and Prince Harry announced on January 8, 2020, that they would be stepping down as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family.

Modelled on Brexit – the term coined after Brits voted to leave the EU in 2016 – Megxit, a term coined by The Sun, made Collins Dictionary’s top 10 list of new words in 2020. 

As was reported last month, according to former BBC’s royal correspondent Jennie Bond, Prince William has “blotted Harry out of his mind” and “no longer regards him as a person in his life”. 

Jennie insisted that Prince William wouldn’t accept his brother back, as the trust has been broken after Prince Harry took swipes at the royals in his Spare memoir and Oprah Winfrey interview.

I personally think William has more or less blotted Harry out of his mind, out of life

Jennie Bond, former BBC’s royal correspondent

She told radio: “The bricks that have been thrown, the insults, the allegations, the accusations, the hurt, the pain, the rift is too deep now between William and Harry, I think. 

“I personally think William has more or less blotted Harry out of his mind, out of life, and is focused on his role, his family and what he has to do.

“And I think he regards Harry as a nonperson, really, in his life, which is terribly sad.”

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