Harry and William start texting again, biographer says it won't make things 'go back to the way they once were'
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey continues to bring into question whether Harry's relationship with his brother Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge and second in line to the British throne, will recover. As reports emerge that the brothers have started texting again following the interview that aired on CBS on Sunday, March 7, however, a royal expert predicts that the brothers' relationship will not go back to the way it once was.
Royal biographer, Angela Levin told The Mirror that William and Harry will never go back to the way things were, but Prince Philip's health could bring them closer again. She said that there is a chance that Harry and William, who were once very close, could maintain a relationship in the future despite the storm created in the aftermath of the Sussexes stepping back from their duties as senior members of the royal family, and their interview with Winfrey over their experiences.
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Levin, who is the author of 'Harry: Conversations with the Prince', noted that Harry has felt "tremendous" guilt over his brief final phone call with his mother Princess Diana before her death and that he could feel similar regret over the Duke of Edinburgh who has been hospitalized since February 2021 after undergoing successful heart surgery and is in treatment for an infection.
In a 2017 documentary, 'Our Mother Diana: Her Life and Legacy', Harry said, "If I’d known that that was the last time I was going to speak to my mother, the things that I would — the things I would have said to her," noting that she had called hours before her fatal crash and that the call was short as the princes were playing with their cousins.
During his interview with Oprah Winfrey, Harry said that there was "space" between himself and William, but that he hoped time would heal the rift between them. William, meanwhile, told reporters after the interview that he planned to speak with Harry in the aftermath.
The Sun reported that William and Harry started exchanging texts following the interview after having barely spoken to each other for more than a year. However, sources told the publication that the brothers are "as far apart as it's possible to be — emotionally and physically. Their relationship is at rock bottom."
Levin told The Mirror that she suspected that William was "very upset" with Harry following his move to Los Angeles with Meghan and their one-year-old son, Archie. She told the publication, "I don't think things will ever go back to the way they once were but I think a relationship could be maintained."
She continued, "I think William is very upset too that Harry's gone away because they were very, very close, and I think he can make it up. They can have a relationship, but it just won't be the same." Levin added, "When I wrote the biography of Prince Harry he told me that his relationship with Prince William was incredibly close because they had those unique things in common. One was to lose their mother at a very young age."
Levin said that Philip's health could bring Harry closer to his family, saying, "I think there is a possibility that if (Philip) improves that Harry will have felt his heart beating for his grandfather more than he expected and see the situation within his family with different eyes. Likewise, if his Royal Highness dies, (Harry) might feel tremendous waves of guilt that he wasn’t there and that he could have seen him so many times."
She continued, "He felt very guilty that his mother’s last telephone call to him when he was up in Scotland with his father over the summer, that he was very busy playing with his cousins and he kept the conversation very short. He says he has regretted that forever, and he will regret it forever, because he could have had a longer conversation with his wonderful mother. I think he might feel a similar way about Prince Philip."