Prince William is keeping his distance from King Charles following the monarch’s reunion with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, as Princess Catherine is tirelessly trying to bridge the gap.
Buckingham Palace confirmed that King Charles and Queen Camilla privately hosted Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, at Highgrove House in July. Notably, Prince William and Kate did not attend the family reunion.
Despite William reportedly being understanding of his father’s desire to reconnect with Harry, the 44-year-old royal heir remains unwilling to follow suit and have any contact with his younger brother.
The differing stances on Prince Harry are creating a divide between the father and son. William is unhappy about the Sussex reunion, believing Harry and Meghan’s years of public criticism – including Harry’s memoir Spare and the couple’s TV interviews – caused lasting damage to the monarchy.
And now, King Charles’ ‘widening divide’ with Prince William is causing untold anguish for Kate Middleton, who is stuck squarely in the middle. “It used to be the horrible state of things between William and his brother that kept her up at night worrying, but now she’s even more distressed by the growing distance between William and his father,” a royal source told Woman’s Day.
“Of course, Kate isn’t going to disrespect or undermine William, but at the same time, Charles is her father-in-law, whom she loves dearly. Given the fragility of his health, she worries about him too.”
Buckingham Palace announced King Charles’ cancer diagnosis on February 5, 2024. Since then, Charles has gradually returned to royal duties while continuing treatment. With his worrying health in mind, Princess Catherine is encouraging her ‘angry’ husband to give his father some grace.
“She keeps encouraging William to go easy on him. She understands why he’s frustrated by the decisions his father has made when it comes to Harry and Meghan… but she doesn’t believe his anger is helping the situation,” the source said.
“She’s such a peacemaker by nature, so her first instinct was to try and intervene.”
Kate’s pleas to William have not helped mend the divide, leading the 44-year-old to be at her wit’s end over the fractured father-son bond. “Being caught in the middle has become emotionally exhausting, and the fact is things have gotten so explosive, anything she does risks making things worse,” the source added.
“All she can do now is hope they eventually find their own way back to each other.”
‘Peacemaker’ Kate Middleton remains close to King Charles
As Prince William keeps his distance from his father, Kate has taken it upon herself to keep the conversations flowing with her father-in-law, King Charles.
“She’s constantly in touch with him. She’s thanking her lucky stars that things haven’t deteriorated to the point that William would want her to cut Charles off,” the insider added.
“That would be incredibly hard because after all these years of being so close, he is like a second father to her in many ways. She’s very protective of him and even more so now that he’s battling cancer – she knows how hard that is and hates that he’s having to deal with this painful rift with William at the same time.”
Kate has taken it upon herself to send warm gestures to ensure King Charles still feels supported. “She’s been baking healthy treats for him and sending them over so that at least he will still know she cares,” the insider added.
“She’s still speaking to him several times a week, often it’s just a quick check-in, but she’s making every effort not to let any sort of ice build up between them.”
But as expected, this rift has meant that Kate is seeing Charles ‘a lot less’ to honour William’s request for space.
“This will be sorted out with time. She knows William loves his father dearly, it’s just a case of him feeling pretty let down and hurt at the end of the day, which she does understand,” the insider added.
“The children need their grandfather in their lives, and even if William refuses to admit it – he needs his father.”
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