Prince Harry says reconciling with the royal family is “the most important thing,” renewing his years-long push to repair relationships with King Charles III and Prince William even as the estrangement with his brother continues.
In a video interview with GQ conducted in September and released Tuesday, the 42-year-old Duke of Sussex was asked whether he grieved his strained ties to his father, 77, and his brother, 44.
“Yes, of course,” Harry said. “I think from a family perspective — again, another massively relatable issue for so many people — sibling disagreements, broken relationships between kids and their parents, kids and one parent. That continues to come up with me the whole time with people that I speak to, so I know how relatable it is.”
He added: “Some people maybe look at us and go, ‘How are you gonna work it out? Maybe that will help me work my stuff out.’ Some people don’t want it to work out. I want it to work out. With everything else that’s going on in the world, the most important thing is to reconcile — that’s the key point.”
Asked if the family “wound” can be repaired, Harry said, “Scars stick around forever. But what your perception is, and what your mindset is to those things that have happened, letting go of the past — that’s something that I would encourage everybody to do: If there’s certain things from the past that are still affecting you every day, that’s harder to let go of. But, for me, there’s enough drama in the world and enough drama in people’s lives to continue with issues with family.”
Harry’s comment that “some people don’t want it to work out” quickly drew speculation that he was referring to William. A spokesperson for Harry told People magazine the remark “was absolutely not intended as a swipe at his brother or any other member of his family” and “was made in a general context and was not directed at his family in any way.”
A Long Breakdown
The falling-out traces back to 2018, after Harry married Meghan Markle, and sharpened in October 2019 when Harry told ITV that he and William would “always be brothers” but were on “different paths.” Tensions escalated when Harry and Markle stepped back from royal duties in January 2020 and relocated first to Canada, then California.
In their 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, the couple alleged a lack of institutional support and accused an unnamed royal family member of racism. Harry said at the time he felt “really let down” by Charles, who had stopped taking his calls, but vowed to “make it one of my priorities to try and heal that relationship.” He said he loved William “to bits” while describing their relationship as needing “space.”
The rift deepened with Harry’s 2022 Netflix series “Harry & Meghan,” in which he accused the royal institution of leaking and planting stories, and again with his January 2023 memoir “Spare,” which detailed private disputes with his father and brother and alleged William physically attacked him during a 2019 argument over Markle. Buckingham Palace did not respond publicly to the allegations.
Promoting the book that month, Harry told ITV: “Forgiveness is 100% a possibility because I would like to get my father back. I would like to have my brother back. At the moment, I don’t recognize them, as much as they probably don’t recognize me.” He added a condition: “Though I would like to have reconciliation, I would like accountability. I’ve managed to make peace over this time with a lot of things that have happened. But that doesn’t mean that I’m just gonna let it go.”
Shift After Security Ruling
Harry’s tone softened further after he lost his legal challenge over his UK security arrangements. In a BBC interview in May 2025, he said: “I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point in continuing to fight any more. Life is precious. I don’t know how much longer my father has.” Charles was diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer in February 2024 and continues ongoing treatment.
At the time, Harry said he was not in contact with Charles, claiming, “He won’t speak to me because of this security stuff.” He said he had forgiven his father, brother and stepmother, Queen Camilla, for much of the past conflict, though he was still struggling to forgive the security decision. He also acknowledged some royals might “never forgive” him for writing “Spare.”
In August, Harry, Markle and their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, returned to the UK for an extended stay, reportedly in part to reconnect with Charles and other family members. In September 2025, Harry and his father met privately for the first time in more than a year. In July 2026, the full family traveled to the UK and reunited with Charles and Camilla at Highgrove House — the king’s first meeting with his daughter-in-law and grandchildren in roughly four years. Harry and Charles have reportedly stayed in contact since.
William and Harry, however, remain estranged. There has been no reported direct contact between the brothers despite Harry’s repeated calls for reconciliation, and William has not publicly commented on the rift or expressed any desire to repair it.
