The Gist
- According to a new royal biography, Prince William was “sick with worry” ahead of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s 2021 bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey.
- The future king was “retching” over the interview for a week ahead of its airing globally that March.
- Royal biographer Christopher Andersen pointed to a different interview that apparently got under Kate Middleton’s skin.
Ahead of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s bombshell 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Prince William was “sick with worry,” a new royal biography claims.
In his book Kate!: The Courage, Grace, and Power of the Woman Who Will Be Queen, royal biographer Christopher Andersen wrote that the Princess of Wales “could hear her husband retching in the bathroom” for a week before the interview aired (per Page Six). The Prince of Wales was also reportedly “too distracted to think of food” while thinking about what his brother and sister-in-law might say as the world watched.
The explosive interview covered many bases, and included Harry saying of William that there was “a lot of hurt” between them.
As for Kate, a different interview—one much more recent—reportedly pushed the future queen to her “limits,” Andersen wrote. The interview in question was Harry’s May 2025 sit down with the BBC, where the Duke of Sussex said in part, “I don’t know how much longer my father has,” referring to King Charles’s ongoing cancer treatment (which continues up to the present day).
This made Kate “more disappointed than angry,” Andersen wrote (per Us Weekly). “But William, who had already slammed the door shut on his brother over what Harry wrote in Spare, was, in the words of a courtier, ‘apoplectic’ with rage.”
“Now it was time to nail the door shut once and for all, and for the first time Kate, who had worked harder than anyone to mend the rift between the brothers, willingly handed her husband a hammer,” Andersen continued.
“The damage was done: seeds of doubt concerning the King’s chances for a full recovery had been sown,” Andersen wrote, adding that the Princess of Wales “is ‘the sweetest, most loving person you could ever know,’ said a Sandringham staffer, ‘but like everyone else, she has her limits.’”
The king and the Princess of Wales shared their respective cancer diagnoses almost in tandem in early 2024. While the king’s cancer treatment continues, Kate announced in January 2025 that she is in remission.
“I think Kate’s relationship with her father-in-law over their shared cancer battles really has made her much more sensitive to King Charles’s feelings,” Andersen told Us Weekly. “She knows better than anyone that having someone publicly imply you may be at death’s door is horribly demoralizing.”
“I’m sure Kate must have felt stung by that comment as well, since she is in a situation very similar to the king’s,” Andersen said, noting that the future queen has always been the “levelheaded one” in the family, attempting to “bridge the widening gap between the brothers” in the past.
‘Trust Has Gone’: Prince Harry’s Reunion With Estranged Father King Charles ‘Impossible’ Over Fears Sussexes Will ‘Publicize’ Conversations
Prince Harry’s reunion with King Charles remains “impossible” due to trust issues, according to a royal expert.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the Duke of Sussex, 41, is hoping to see his estranged father for just the second time in nearly two years this summer when he returns to the U.K. for an Invictus Games event.
The Royal Family’s ‘Fear’
But Charles is still wary of Harry and wife Meghan Markle’s form for revealing royal secrets, putting their long-awaited reunion at risk.
Royal expert Duncan Larcombe said: “Charles is in an impossible position right now. He and Prince William can’t reach out to Harry for fear of him then publicizing it. That’s the big blockage.
“If they were to resume contact, they run the risk that Harry and Meghan could disclose more personal details and drop more bombshells about what’s happening.
“This is where the fear lies for the Royal Family,” Larcombe added.
‘Breakdown In Trust’
Larcombe added to the Daily Mirror: “If Charles rang Harry and said ‘I’m coming to the U.S., I’d love to see you,’ the danger is Harry would go public with it. That breakdown in trust is the most significant thing.”
Relations with Charles and William, 43, are still deadlocked after Harry and Markle, 44, sat down for a bombshell TV interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021.
The Sussexes alleged racism within the Royal Family and a lack of support for the former actress, which left his members of The Firm fuming.
Indeed, as Radar revealed, William feared the worst before the interview aired and was “sick” with worry in the build-up to the chat – and had also been “retching for weeks.”
Fresh Criticism of King Charles Explained
Harry risked upsetting his father once again by making what was perceived as a sly dig at the monarch during his fake royal tour of Australia last month; he described children as an “upgrade” on their parents during an emotional reflection on fatherhood.
His comments were framed as a deeply personal account of growth, but have since sparked debate over whether they carried a pointed subtext about his troubled relationship with Charles, 77.
Sources close to the event suggested the language used by Harry has been interpreted in some quarters as a veiled criticism of his father. ”
There is a growing view among royal watchers that Harry’s ‘upgrade’ comment wasn’t accidental, and was, in fact, a rather brutal dig at his father,” one insider told Radar.
“He is being seen as suggesting that children should surpass their parents emotionally and morally while discussing his trauma over being a parent – and that inevitably invites comparisons with King Charles.”
A second royal insider added, “Given the history, people are reading this as a brutal dig. The implication being that Harry sees himself as breaking away from a flawed parental model, and that touches directly on Charles and his extremely turbulent relationship with Harry’s mother, Diana.”
Harry has long spoken about the impact of Diana’s death, describing how it shaped his approach to mental health and parenting.
Speaking at the event Down Under, he said: “Certainly from a therapy standpoint, you want to be the best version of yourself for your kids. And I knew that I had stuff from the past that I needed to deal with and therefore, prepare myself to basically cleanse myself of the past.”
Prince William feels ‘undermined’ by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
Prince William feels disrespected by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
According to an insider, the Prince of Wales is upset over the couple’s recent unofficial visits and remarks about their relationship with the royal family.
“William says he’s being totally undermined and he’s convinced Harry and Meghan are to blame,” a source told Closer.
Per the insider, King Charles III warming up to his youngest son and his daughter-in-law has driven a wedge between him and William.
“William is at a point where he no longer trusts the majority of the palace staff because he knows most of them are loyal to his father and right now he and Charles are so divided when it comes to what to do about the Sussexes,” the source claimed.
“He says they [Meghan and Harry are] using any scrap of information they can get their hands on to stay in Charles’ good books,” the insider said.
“The Sussexes do get quite a steady flow of information, but they insist there’s nothing nefarious about it, they say they’re simply being kept in the loop about situations within the family that might affect them,” they added.
Harry and Meghan reportedly ruffled feathers with The Firm after their recent unofficial trips to Australia and Jordan.
“The Palace is livid,” a source told Rob Shuter for his Naughty But NiceSubstack. “It looks like a full-scale royal tour without the permission slip.”
The Spare author also paid a visit to Ukraine where he was asked by an ITV reporter if the phrase “not a working royal” resonated with him.
“No,” Harry replied. “I will always be part of the royal family.”
According to royal commentator Daniela Elser, the pair should be stripped of their titles over their recent actions.
“The issue with the Sussexes’ spot of DIY [do-it-yourself] royalling isn’t what they did, but when they did it. They are indeed still a duke and duchess and off doing some DIY royalling, it is now,” she wrote for news.com.au.
Prince William and Kate Middleton are ‘not as visible as they need to be’
Prince Williamand Kate Middleton aren’t doing as many public events as they used to.
According to royal expert Joe Little, the Prince and Princess of Wales’ public image seems to be overshadowed by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s appearances around the world.
“The couple [William and Kate] are not as visible as they need to be,” the journalist told iPaper via She Knows.
“They are certainly less visible than the previous Prince and Princess of Wales in their early days when they were firing on all cylinders,” Little said, referring to King Charles III and Princess Diana.
“They handle royal duties in a very different way,” the expert added. “They can’t rely on their popularity forever.”
After the Duke and Duchess of Sussex grabbed headlines with their appearance in Australia, an insider claimed William and Kate were preparing for their revenge tour.
“An official tour by them will take any gloss off Prince Harry and Meghan’s recent, controversial visit,” the source told New Idea magazine.
Kate Middleton and Prince William visit Farnborough Road Infant and Junior School in 2025. By: James Whatling/MEGA
“William and Kate both know that they need to give Australia a real ‘bells and whistles’ royal tour as soon as their schedule allows,” the insider added.
The parents of three have navigated a difficult few years following Kate’s cancer diagnosis in 2024. Luckily, the 44-year-old announced her remission in January 2025.
“They’re at the start of a new chapter,” a source told The Telegraph.
“If continuity and stability is what the monarchy is supposed to give you, you only need to look at this marriage,” the insider said about the future king and queen of England.
Prince William and Kate Middleton during Germany’s State Visit in 2025. By: James Whatling/MEGA
“Whatever has happened in his life, in her life, the continuity and stability of their relationship has seen them through it. They are exactly the same as they have always been. They’re unshakable, the two of them,” the source added.
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