It has been noted by many royal experts how Kate, Princess of Wales and Prince Harry used to “giggle about silly things” when they were together, with there being several photographs of the pair laughing and enjoying each other’s company, over the years. But historian, writer and broadcaster, Tessa Dunlop has claimed Kate and Harry only shared “mutual respect” and weren’t “really close”.
Tessa said Kate “laughed at his jokes”, but she never “got the feeling they weren’t really close”.
She explained to OK! magazine: “I think that was a narrative we stuck on them, I think there was probably mutual respect.”
As for how Prince Harry’s stepping back from the Royal Family will have impacted Kate, Tessa suggested Kate is “probably mourning for a kind of semblance of normality” rather than “mourning for Harry”.
In 2011, after Kate and Prince William’s royal wedding, Harry shared an insight into his relationship with his new sister-in-law.
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He said it was “very, very nice to have a big sister” and explained how he had “gotten to know Catherine pretty well” over the years when she was dating William.
“Now that she’s become part of the family, I’m really looking forward to getting her under my wing – or she’ll be taking me under her wing probably.”
Over the next few years, Kate and Harry seemingly grew closer, with an unnamed source in 2016 telling The Daily Mail how Harry was a close friend and advisor to his sister-in-law.
Apparently, Kate “had quite a different relationship with Harry” than the one she had with William.
Harry “appealed to her sillier side because he is carefree, footloose, and loves banter”.
William, partly because of his position as heir to the throne, “played it safe”, whereas Harry was “free and easy”.
Kate also is said to have enjoyed how Harry “played with her children” and was said to be “a charming big kid and silly uncle”.
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Once Harry married Meghan Markle, the four royals were nicknamed the ‘Fab Four’ after they took part in the Royal Foundation Forum in 2018 which saw them working together on a campaign and sharing communication resources.
But in January 2020 when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced their plans to step down as working royals, the four royals no longer worked together.
In regards to Harry leaving the UK, Kate is said to have “missed [him] terribly”, a source told Woman’s Day New Zealand at the time.
“He was always such fun when he was living with them at Kensington Palace,” they added.
Now, Judi James, a body language expert, told Express.co.uk how Kate and Harry’s bond is “something of the past” and claimed their relationship has devolved from friends to “frosty”.
Judi said: “Kate’s closest friendship in the Royal Family is, sadly, one that only exists only in the past tense.”
When Harry and Meghan were in the UK for the Jubilee last summer, there were no public interactions spotted directly between Harry and Kate.
It is not known whether the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be attending King Charles III’s coronation this May.
