Prince William is understanding of his dad King Charles’ reunion with Prince Harry — but he has no plans to reconnect with his estranged brother.
“Prince William probably understands why his father did it, even if he wouldn’t have done it himself,” royal expert Kinsey Schofield theorized to Page Six.
“He can appreciate that a father living with cancer wants to see his son and grandchildren, while still believing that Harry has not earned his way back into the family’s confidence.”
Schofield continued that the future King’s “priority” is “protecting the institution he’ll one day inherit.”
“In his mind, the issue has never been whether Harry is family; it’s whether Harry can be trusted,” she said. “One afternoon at Highgrove doesn’t answer that question. King Charles can afford to think about legacy. Prince William has to think about longevity.”
On Friday, Buckingham Palace confirmed Charles and Queen Camilla hosted Harry, Meghan Markle and their children — Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5 — at Highgrove House. This marks the first time Charles, 77, has seen his grandkids in four years.
Schofield believes that even though they have reunited, this “doesn’t erase the past.”
“It doesn’t mean the Palace should forget everything that’s happened over the last six years,” she theorized. “A father can forgive. A monarch still has to protect the Crown. … One meeting is easy. Rebuilding trust is extraordinarily difficult.”
William, 44, avoided his younger brother during the UK trip, making separate public appearances just miles apart on July 7.
The future King visited the Ysgol Gymraeg Llundain, The London Welsh School, on Tuesday, while Harry, 41, attended the 14th Invictus Games Foundation Conversation: From Policy to Practice at Chatham House that same day.
The brothers have been estranged for years. Harry opened up about their feud in his 2023 memoir, “Spare.”
In the book, Harry claimed his brother was favored growing up. He even wrote about an alleged physical altercation after William called his sister-in-law Markle “difficult,” “rude” and “abrasive.”
“It all happened so fast,” Harry penned. “So very fast. He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor.”
Harry — who resigned from his royal duties in 2020 and moved to Montecito, California, with his family — initially arrived to the UK alone after he was denied taxpayer-funded security.
Page Six confirmed Thursday that the “As Ever” founder and their children would make the trip — though they were not scheduled to make any public appearances as a family. Photos of their reunion with Charles and Camilla were not made public.
During the trip, a UK High Court judge ruled against Harry and six other claimants in their lawsuit. They sued Daily Mail’s publisher, Associated Newspapers, for breach of privacy because they did not provide sufficient proof that the stories were obtained unlawfully.
Page Six reported the legal war set them back $67 million.
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