Royal expert Katie Nicholl tells ET that Harry is hoping to 'thaw' what has been a very 'icy relationship.'
Prince Harry wants to sort things out with his brother, Prince William. Royal expert Katie Nicholl told ET that Harry is looking into using a mediator to mend his relationship with William.
"Harry, I'm told, suggested perhaps that they might get some sort of a mediator in on sort of these talks, to make some progress," Nicholl revealed of Harry, who visited Queen Elizabeth II during a stop in the U.K. ahead of the 2022 Invictus Games in the Netherlands. "It was something that he had suggested to his father. He's made it very clear that he wants to sort things out. He wants things to be improved."
Nicholl added that Harry wants to return to the U.K. for the queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June, and hopes to be in a better place with both his brother and his father, Prince Charles, at that time.
"I'm hearing that he wants to be over here for the queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June. I think, possibly, that suggestion of a mediator is probably less the relationship with his father, because his father is open to wanting to sort things out," Nicholl continued. "I would imagine it's more to do with his brother. I would imagine that that idea of wanting a mediator is probably more to do with him and William. His relationship, really, is at a bit of a crossroads. We have been told for many months now that they're not close at the moment. It has been very, very difficult."
Harry did not see William on this trip, however, with his elder brother, his wife, Kate Middleton, and their family taking a ski trip over the Easter holiday.
"I think people will read into William, perhaps, deliberately not being here in that same week that his brother was coming over," Nicholl said of William's absence last week. "I don't think it was deliberately staged like that, personally, and I think William and Kate have a limited period of holiday. Over Easter, they wanted to take the children skiing. I think what wasn't clear, was that once Harry's trip was confirmed and it was all going ahead, William wasn't going to change his holiday plans to come back or cut short his holiday in order to see his brother."
"And don't forget," Nicholl continued, "when William had a party over here last year to thank those that had been involved with the Diana statue, he didn't actually invite Harry to that. He didn't ask him to come back over from the States for it, so I think that's some indication as to how tense and how difficult that relationship is, and that may well be why Harry suggested to his father that they may need something of a mediator in all of this, because it's a sticky relationship here. The one that's much harder to get back on an even track is William and Harry."
While Harry did not see his brother, his stop in the U.K. is very much for the purpose of seeing and fixing relations with his family, Nicholl shared.
"Harry has come over to Europe. He's made this detour to the U.K., very much wanting to meet with some of his family," she explained. "He was very keen to see his grandmother, he was very keen to see his father and he is hoping that these talks will be the beginning of a thaw in what, up until now, has been a very icy relationship."
Both Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, met with the queen at Windsor Castle on Thursday before kicking off the Invictus Games in The Hague over the weekend.
"For the meeting with the queen, it was just the queen, Meghan and Harry, and very few details of that meeting has been leaked," Nicholl said. "I suspect it's going stay quite watertight. I think the Sussexes really have to prove that they can be trusted now, and that they are now back in touch with the family. Harry has met with his father, and with Camilla [Parker-Bowles]. He's now had a private meeting with him, Meghan, and the queen."
She added, "I think if details of, particularly that meeting with the queen come out, that's going to put him in a very, very difficult position. They need to know that they can trust the Sussexes because the queen will be hoping that this will have been an ice breaker, and it will be the first of more meetings and trips over to England to come in the future."
Harry and Meghan's visit is significant news, considering it marked their first visit to the U.K. since the couple stepped down from their roles as senior members of the royal family in 2020.
See below for more news on the royal family, including what Harry and Meghan have been up to while at the Invictus Games.
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