Prince William used a “secret” code he devised with Prince Harry following their mother’s death in a desperate bid to reconcile, the royal claimed.
The Duke of Sussex shared details of his conflicted relationship with the Prince of Wales in his memoir Spare – which was released exactly a year ago.
In the final chapter of the autobiography, he recounted an exchange he had with William in their first face-to-face meeting since he and Meghan Markle stepped down from their institutional roles.
After nearly a year away from England, Harry reunited with the Royal Family to attend his grandfather Prince Philip’s funeral – after which he had a tense discussion with his brother and father.
In an attempt to placate him, the Duke claimed the Prince of Wales resorted to using a “secret code” they created after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997.
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Writing in his memoir, Harry quoted his brother as saying: “Harold, you must listen to me! I just want you to be happy, Harold. I swear… I swear on Mummy’s life.”
The Duke said the reference to their late mother stopped him and Charles in their tracks as they walked together around the gardens at his former home of Frogmore Cottage.
He continued: “He’d used the secret code, the universal password. Ever since we were boys those three words were to be used only in times of extreme crisis.
“For nearly twenty-five years we’d reserved that soul-crushing vow for times when one of us needed to be heard, to be believed, quickly. For times when nothing else would do.”
However, Harry claimed to have been surprised not because of William’s use of their shared vow but rather because “it didn’t work.”
