Prince William is “trapped” by his royal position and sometimes feels “envious” of the freedom his younger brother Prince Harry has, according to royal author Omid Scobie.
Harry and his wife Meghan Markle stepped down as working royals in 2020 and moved to California, where they independently live their lives away from the gilded cage of the Firm.
Since then the chasm between the once-close brothers has only grown wider, with William furious at Harry’s perceived onslaught against the family and the institution.
Mr Scobie writes in Endgame: “For William, the many fractures split wide open when Harry went public with his grievances against the family and the institution—first with Oprah in 2021, then on Netflix in 2022, and then again in his memoir the following year.
“Harry’s sustained offensive was too much for William. In his first post-exit interview, Harry asserted that William (and Charles) are ‘trapped’ in the system—there is no exit for the next in line.
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“While this is objectively true, a source close to William told me that the heir feels ‘far from [trapped] in any system’. But we do know that there are persisting reports that William has been—and always will be—envious of Harry’s freedom to ‘break away’ from the royal establishment.
“Couple this slow-burning resentment with William’s outright anger at what he perceives as Harry’s relentless selfishness in his war against the two institutions he blames for his ills, and it’s easy to see why William’s fury is bubbling to the top.”
William’s fiery temper is also dealt with by the author, as royal sources reportedly revealed to him that the heir to the throne can sometimes be difficult to deal with.
As William has “fully embraced” his position as next in line to the throne, he has become a “disciplined King in waiting” but sometimes hard to reason with.
The author writes: “It is said that after maturing into his position in the Firm, the Prince now aims to follow in the Queen’s footsteps.
“A source within his team at Kensington Palace says that, as an adult in his forties, the former Duke of Cambridge has ‘fully embraced the path that he’s on. Just like the Queen he has learned the importance of duty coming before anything else.'”
However, while William takes inspiration from his late grandmother when it comes to how he “embodies the institution”, when his temper “flares behind closed doors, he more closely resembles his famously ill-tempered father”.
A former aide allegedly told Mr Scobie: “William is a man that likes to get things done, done quickly, done efficiently . . . In the process of making that happen, he can definitely be sharp.”
Biographer Robert Jobson wrote: “Even senior members of his circle will ‘check which way the wind is blowing’ before becoming too self-assured in his presence or raising problematic issues that might be better addressed at another time.”
