Bonded by unimaginable circumstances. Prince William and Prince Harry grew up close as members of the royal family, but their brotherly connection faced its struggles as they formed their own separate lives as adults.
Prince Charles and Princess Diana welcomed their first son, William, in June 1982 — 10 months after the couple tied the knot in a lavish wedding. The pair’s second son, Harry, arrived in September 1984.
The Princess of Wales strived to give her children a normal upbringing, despite their royal lineage, but in August 1997, William and Harry — 15 and 12, respectively, at the time — suffered a devastating tragedy when their mother died at age 36 following a car accident.
While Diana’s death forever changed them as individuals, it also brought Harry and William closer since they were the only ones who understood what they had been through.
“Losing our mother at a young age has kind of helped us sort of travel through that difficult patch together,” the Duke of Cambridge detailed during a January 2018 conversation with volunteers for the Best Man Project. “When you’re like-minded, you go through similar things. It’s a bond and it’s something that, you know, you’ve tackled it together and come out the other side better for it.”
However, rumors of a rift between the siblings took hold as they grew older. Harry ultimately confirmed the tension in the October 2019 documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey.
“Part of this role and part of this job, this family, being under the pressure that it’s under, inevitably stuff happens,” the Duke of Sussex explained. “But look, we’re brothers, we’ll always be brothers. We’re certainly on different paths at the moment but I’ll always be there for him and as I know he’ll always be there for me.”
The situation intensified in January 2020 when Harry and wife Meghan Markle announced their decision to “step back” as senior members of the royal family. They completed their official duties and relocated to her native California that March. In February 2021, Buckingham Palace confirmed the duo would not return as working members of the royal family.
Harry gave an update on his relationship with William the following month during his and Meghan’s CBS tell-all interview. “As I said before, I love William to bits. We’ve been through hell together and we have a shared experience, but we are on different paths,” he reiterated. “The relationship is space at the moment and time heals all things, hopefully.”
Scroll through the gallery below to see how William and Harry have changed during their time in the spotlight.
An heir and a spare! The world watched as Diana and Charles welcomed two new royals to the House of Windsor. "I hug my children to death and get into bed with them at night," Diana said of William and Harry. "I always feed them love." Mauro Carraro/Shutterstock
"The boys enjoyed playing hide-and-seek with their father and going for walks near the stables," former royal housekeeper Wendy Barry told Us Weekly. Tim Graham/Getty Images
On Harry's first day at Wetherby School, William looked out for his little brother. Nils Jorgensen/Shutterstock
As little boys, "William would play soldier and Harry would be the sidekick," Barry told Us. Tim Graham/Getty Images
Fun with mum! Though their world is steeped in rules and tradition, Diana was determined to share some carefree moments with her princes (at England's Thorne Park). Cassidy And Leigh/Shutterstock
The princes had a governess but Diana was still a very hands-on mum. "At night, she'd take her sons to the streets, show them the homeless, explain real life," Lana Marks, a friend of the late princess, told Us. Clive Limpkin/ANL/Shutterstock
William and Harry "enjoyed getting rough," Barry told Us. Another favorite pastime of the young princes (at Balmoral with Charles)? Tormenting the staff with water pistols. James Gray/Shutterstock
They saw themselves as "Team Wales," wrote royal insider Katie Nicholl in her biography William and Harry. Carl De Souza/Shutterstock
Harry quickly bonded with Duchess Kate after she began dating William. He couldn’t have been happier when his older brother proposed in 2010. “I always wished for a sister and now I have one,” he gushed. Eddie Keogh/Shutterstock
Dapper duo! The heirs to the House of Windsor stuggled with the idea that their lives were already "mapped out," Nicholl said. David Hartley/Shutterstock
While Nicholl described Harry as an "amiable and gregarious young man," another royal insider called William "genuine and accessible." PA Photos/Landov
Heir force! For their military posts, both William and Harry trained to fly a Griffin helicopter. Chris Jackson/Getty Images
Granny's boys are all grown up, but when they were tykes, Queen Elizabeth II often joined them for afternoon tea dates and pony rides. Samir Hussein/WireImage.com
The two princes took a trip to Botswana to visit groups supported by Harry's Sentabale charity and William's Tusk Trust foundation. Tim Rooke/Shutterstock
Harry proudly served as William’s best man at the elder prince’s wedding to Kate. William broke from royal tradition by having a best man rather than supporters by his side for the big day. Hoo-Me/Shutterstock
William and Harry had some lighthearted fun when they visited the set of Star Wars. They later attended the London premiere of Star Wars: The Last Jedi together in December 2017. Shutterstock
The siblings showed off their competitive spirit at a marathon training day with Team Heads Together. Alastair Grant/AP/Shutterstock
William repaid the favor by serving as Harry’s best man at his 2018 wedding to Meghan. Neil Hall/Pool/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Amid their ongoing rift, the brothers reunited to attend their grandfather Prince Philip’s funeral. They were spotted chatting with Kate after the service. David Dyson/Pool/Shutterstock
The brothers came together on what would have been their mother's 60th birthday to unveil her statue. "Every day, we wish she were still with us, and our hope is that this statue will be seen forever as a symbol of her life and her legacy," they said in a statement at the time. Yui Muk/AP/Shutterstock
The men put aside years of tension after their grandmother's death. They greeted mourners in Windsor, England, together with their wives two days after the monarch's passing. James Whatling/MEGA
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