PRINCE Harry is prepared to admit his sheer temper played a part in his rift with William and Kate, a royal historian has claimed.
The brothers will reunite on Thursday when they unveil the memorial statue of their late mother together, on what would have been Diana’s 60th birthday.
Ahead of their meeting, Robert Lacey, the author of Battle of Brothers, has said he believes Harry is the only one who may be ready to admit mistakes and contrition for his behaviour over the past two years.
However, he told Newsweek it may not be reciprocated because William and Kate may feel “vindicated” in having doubts about Harry’s relationship.
“On one side we’ve got William who doesn’t seem prepared to concede anything and on the other side friends have told me that Harry wouldn’t mind reconciling and then it’s Meghan who is sticking to her guns on this issue,” he said.
“It should surely be possible for both sides to say the past is in the past. It’s very regrettable that Meghan doesn’t withdraw just a little.
“Why can’t she say it was the pressure? “I was getting used to this incredibly complicated system, I was just pregnant, I couldn’t sleep”….”Perhaps in retrospect I went over the top about it”.”
The Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex will stand shoulder to shoulder on Thursday at the unveiling of Princess Diana’s statue at Kensington Palace’s Sunken Garden.
Lacey has spoken out following claims William and Harry will not heal their rift this week while the Duke is ‘so under the thumb’ of his wife
While Harry’s trip back to the UK was originally touted as an opportunity for the Duke to reconcile with William, it now seems unlikely that peace talks will make any significant headway, royal commentator Camilla Tominey has said.
However, the brothers are expected to make a temporary truce in their reported row to ensure their mother’s legacy is the primary focus of the day.
The Duke of Sussex, 36, was picked up on the Heathrow tarmac on Friday and driven to Frogmore cottage, where he is isolating for five days.
Harry’s visit marks the first time he has returned home since blasting the Royal Family on his mental health TV show, accusing them of “neglect”.
He also slammed Prince Charles and his childhood by claiming he moved his family to the US to “break the cycle of pain”.
Speaking about the brothers’ upcoming reunion in The Telegraph’s Royal Insight video series, Tominey said: “I think there’s an expectation that publicly, the brothers will appear to be on the same side.
“But I think we’re overstating it if we think that one event can somehow bring them together.”
They will be putting on a public display of unity, Tominey said, but claimed ongoing tensions will overshadow the positive engagement.
Speaking of what William could do to mend the rift, Tominey said: “The welcome to his brother must be warm”.
“At the end of the day, Harry is visiting his brother on his own home soil and therefore I think there is a sense of William needing to be pretty open-armed.”
As the Duke of Cambridge is “more senior in the pecking order” , he needs to emulate the ever-diplomatic Queen in ending the row, Tominey noted.
The commentator also suggested Harry will want to hear from William “that they have taken aboard the couple’s criticisms of the way they were managed within the Royal Family and the fact that they felt they weren’t supported”.
While the Sussexes were likely expecting “amends to be made”, particularly by the royal who allegedly questioned the colour of Archie Harrison’s skin before he was born, the commentator thought it unlikely William would admit any misbehaviour.
“It seems unlikely that the Duke of Cambridge, having said to the TV cameras that ‘we are very much not a racist family’, is going to admit to any wrongdoing on that front, because that’s something the Royal Family seem reluctant to accept,” Tominey said.
The Duke of Cambridge was the first to leap to the defence of The Firm with his passing comment to the press, and remains the only one to date who has mentioned Meghan and Harry’s race allegations.
Tominey suggested Harry would do well to bring “magnaminty and pragmatism” during his visit, and avoid being “combative” at such a sober occasion.
She also suggested Harry should consider assuring his brother that private conversations would remain between the two of them – following reports the Cambridges were afraid to speak to Harry alone, over fear of leaks
