William and Harry fell out years before rift reports emerged, royal author claims

Prince William and Prince Harry ?were on the outs years before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex resigned from the monarchy in 2020, according to royal biographer Robert Lacey.

Lacey says tensions between the brothers can be traced back to 2002 when stories about Prince Harry smoking cannabis appeared in the press.

Then, three years later, photos of Harry wearing a Nazi desert uniform to a fancy dress party caused further public outrage.

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Lacey says steps were taken to protect William from the scandals and Harry was left to take all the blame.

This left Harry feeling resentful of his brother, sparking friction between the pair which continues to this day.

Lacey explained the originals of problems between William and Harry in his book Battle of Brothers.

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He wrote: "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 ¨C as there had been after the "Drugs Shame" of 2002, when Harry had first started to realise the price of playing the functional scapegoat."

Lacey claims William was the ringleader however Harry and his friend Guy Pelly were left to take the blame as the Palace moved to protect Prince William.

He explained: "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 ¨C 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."

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By the time Harry met Meghan Markle in 2016 he and William were not as close as they once were.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex would marry in 2018 and resign from the monarchy two years later, moving their family to Montecito in California where they operate enterprises separate from the royals.

The brother's relationship reached breaking point when Harry and Meghan gave interviews during which they criticised their time as part of the monarchy.

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Harry then released his memoir Spare in 2023 in which he chronicled struggles he and William had experienced over the years and in particular after Harry and Meghan began dating.

It is understood the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have reached out privately to the Princess of Wales who is currently undergoing preventative chemotherapy after cancer was discovered following planned abdominal surgery in January.

Harry also flew to the UK earlier this year after his father King Charles' cancer diagnosis.

William didn't see his brother during his quick visit to the UK.?

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