A deafening silence from William and Kate… but the Prince of Wales will be seething – and he could be forced into a reconciliation

The deafening silence from Prince William spoke volumes on Thursday.

Experts said he was likely to be seething at his brother’s return.

There was no word from the heir to the throne following the bombshell news from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

The Prince and Princess of Wales are bitterly estranged from Harry and Meghan. They may fear that the couple’s move back to Britain is a deliberate strategy to force them into reconciliation while King Charles is monarch.

Former BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt said William would be ‘apoplectic’ at his brother’s move.

‘In the long term, the return of the Sussexes to the UK opens up the prospect of two rival courts, William’s and Harry’s,’ he said. 

‘In the short term, Harry will be able to deepen his rapprochement with his father.

‘His presence back home will make it harder for his brother to duck a reconciliation. 

‘The surprise return of Harry and Meghan is likely to have left William apoplectic.’

Harry and former Suits actress Meghan (right) were once part of the so-called Fab Four with the then-Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (left)

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Harry and former Suits actress Meghan were once part of the so-called Fab Four with the then-Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Their fallout is said to have begun even before Harry married Meghan at Windsor Castle in May 2018, with Harry accusing William of being snobbish towards his bride. 

In March 2019, it was announced the Sussexes would set up their own household, breaking away from the joint operation with William and Kate, amid reports of a rift.

The animosity became obvious during the Megxit saga of 2020, and since then Harry has let loose a barrage of accusations against his brother, Kate, Charles and Camilla during tell-all interviews, his score-settling memoir Spare, and his Netflix documentary.

The brothers were last seen together publicly at their father’s coronation in 2023. In his autobiography Harry claimed his ‘archnemesis’ brother ‘Willy’ knocked him to the floor into a dog bowl in a row over Meghan’s alleged rude behaviour. 

He also alleged it was William and Kate who encouraged him to wear a Nazi uniform to a fancy dress party in 2005.

Harry and Meghan, in their Netflix series two months after the Queen’s death, claimed Kensington Palace had lied to protect William when it issued a statement denying a story he had bullied Harry out of the Royal Family. 

Harry also wrote of how Charles pleaded with his sons at a meeting at Windsor just after the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh, saying: ‘Please, boys. Don’t make my final years a misery.’

In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan said Kate made her cry ahead of the wedding – the opposite of reports circulating that Meghan had left Kate in tears over Princess Charlotte’s bridesmaid dress fitting. 

It was the saga over Meghan’s claims that royals had questioned the likely skin colour of her unborn son Archie that ended with Kate being branded a racist – a situation William may never forgive them for.

William is likely to have taken Harry’s accusations about Kate closer to heart than any criticism of himself.