PRINCE Harry was the “opposite” of brother William when it came to matters of the heart – and “wanted to marry every girl he loved”, a royal biographer has claimed.
And during his best man’s speech for William, Harry claimed his older brother “didn’t have a romantic bone in his body” before he met Kate Middleton.
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By comparison, Harry “wore his heart on his sleeve”, Ingrid Seward says.
And he faced a very different time to his brother. That’s because William was “strictly off-limits to the media” while he attended university, which is where he met Kate.
Meanwhile, Harry had to “run the gauntlet of the intense public interest his love life generated”, Ingrid says.
It comes as:
- Prince William ‘can’t tolerate’ how Meghan has treated Kate Middleton, a senior royal source claimed
- Kate got the giggles as she and William played golf on a royal visit today
- Meanwhile, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are looking for a new employee as they take on greater responsibility
- Harry and Meghan may be ‘cut’ from the Royal Family in Prince Charles’ plan to save cash
- Harry revealed Kate’s hugely embarrassing nickname for William in the best man’s speech at their wedding
Princess Eugenie introduced him to her pretty female friends – but over time, Harry became increasingly resentful of what he viewed as intrusion into his life.
Ingrid said: “When he took girls out, he was so paranoid about being seen that he would make them sit in the back of the Range Rover under a blanket en route to the restaurant.”
Harry’s most significant relationship before Meghan was with blonde beauty Chelsy Davy.
The two dated on and off for seven years and Chelsy told The Times she “couldn’t cope” with the intense scrutiny their romance received.
But Harry’s also dated actress Cressida Bonas – introduced to him by Eugenie – and was linked to Natalie Imbruglia, who has denied claims of a fling, as well as Caroline Flack, Mollie King and Ellie Goulding.
He and William often discussed girlfriends together in the days before Kate became William’s girlfriend.
“During their time together training to be helicopter pilots at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire, William and Harry had plenty of time to discuss their girlfriends and the shared problems they had keeping any romance from the media,” Ingrid said.
“In a way, Harry was the opposite of his brother.
“He wore his heart on his sleeve and wanted to marry almost every girl he fell in love with, while William was more concerned about being able to give commitment.”
Harry was always very fond of Kate, and believed she was the “big sister he’d never had”.
Indeed, Harry was the first person William told about his plan to propose to Kate in a remote lodge in Kenya, which is only accessible by helicopter.
And Harry joked that William should have a bottle of Champagne on hand for when she said yes – and a bottle of brandy in the event she said no, Ingrid says.
Kate, for her part, was great friends with her brother-in-law.
She and William lived in Wales when they first married, but as soon as they moved into Nottingham Cottage, their London home, Harry was a regular visitor.
And the trio’s bond deepened when Kate and William’s children arrived arrived.
“When Prince George was born in July 2013, he was so excited to be an uncle he smuggled his then-girlfriend Cressida into Kensington Palace under a blanket in the back of a car so she too could meet his new nephew,” Ingrid said.
But William and Kate began to notice that Harry was “actually quite lonely”.
“To counteract Harry’s insecurity and bouts of loneliness, Kate and William suggested they combined forces on official engagements as, after all, they all had the same favourite cause – mental health,” Ingrid said.
“The trio later formed Heads Together, a charity to encourage people to talk about their mental health on many different levels.”
Seeming rifts between William, Kate and Harry began when Wills allegedly warned his younger brother against moving too fast with Meghan Markle.
According to biography Finding Freedom, William said: “Don’t feel you need to rush this.
“Take as much as time as you need to get to know this girl.”
The book’s authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand said the phrase “the girl” immediately irritated Harry, who was “p***ed off” that his brother “would ask such a thing”.
But Harry fell deeply in love with Meghan very quickly, and said he knew she was “special” on their second date.
He told James Corden during an interview earlier this year that “everything was done back to front” due his royal status, which meant cosy nights in rather than attending glitzy dinners.
He said: “Rather than going to friends’ houses or out for dinner where there were other distractions [we had] no distractions. It was great.
“We went from zero to 60 in the first two months.”
“Both William and Kate wanted to like Meghan if for no other reason than Harry was so madly in love,” Ingrid said.
“But the women had little in common beyond some polite chatter and their shared interest in tennis.”
And the troubles worsened with Megxit – and Harry and Meghan’s recently-aired interview with Oprah.
During the explosive chat, the couple said a senior royal had made a racist comment about the colour of son Archie’s skin before his birth.
It was also claimed that Kate Middleton had made Meghan cry – an allegation said to have made William particularly upset.
Meghan and Harry’s popularity with Brit adults has taken a tumble to its lowest-ever point since the chat screened.
And Ingrid said: “Now, after all that has happened, Kate is burdened with the task of peacemaker.
“Her huge strength and inner resolve will stand her in good stead, but mending this broken relationship might be the one thing she cannot conquer.”
