The rift between Prince Harry and Prince William casts a long shadow
CBC
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When friends and relatives gathered at a church in eastern England the other day for a memorial service honouring Robert Fellowes, they were remembering a Buckingham Palace courtier who served as private secretary to Queen Elizabeth during the turmoil the House of Windsor faced in the 1990s.
Fellowes, who died on July 29 at the age of 82, also had a family tie to the royals, having been married to an elder sister of the late Princess Diana.
Yet when reports of the memorial service surfaced in the media — mainstream and tabloid — much attention focused on two particular attendees who are estranged.
Princes William and Harry were both reportedly at the service for their uncle, but if some headlines are to be believed, they kept their distance and weren't seen speaking with one another.
It was yet another example of how often these days the rift between the two sons of King Charles has become a narrative that can overshadow other Royal Family business.
"We see this personal estrangement between the two brothers trickling into articles about otherwise unrelated topics," Toronto-based royal author and historian Carolyn Harris said in an interview.
It's not a new phenomenon — royals' personal conflict distracting popular attention from what members of the Royal Family are otherwise doing in the public eye.
"King Charles III had the same experience in the 1990s, when he was in many ways ahead of the curve in terms of promoting organic farming and sustainable development," said Harris.
"But all of the headlines, unless he was being interviewed for the National Geographic, tended to emphasize the breakdown of his marriage to Diana, Princess of Wales."
There is little doubt that the rift between William and Harry is deep.
"It seems pretty total," said Craig Prescott, a constitutional expert and lecturer in law at Royal Holloway, University of London, in an interview.
"It seems … at least for now, [Harry is] out and there doesn't seem to be any chink of light of reconciliation or anything from William's part."
Various factors appear to be at play in the estrangement.
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