Royal RIFT: How Prince Harry 'feared LOSING William' after Kate Middleton development
PRINCE Harry “feared losing his brother” when William announced his engagement to Kate Middleton in 2010, according to a royal author.
Royal family DISAGREES with each other reveals Prince William
Prince William and Kate Middleton have now been happily married for nearly nine years, after they tied the knot at Westminster Abbey in April 2011. However, as the Duke of Cambridge made the plunge to propose to his then girlfriend of ten years, the Duke of Sussex was “afraid of losing his brother". Added to recent rumours that Prince William voiced concern about Harry’s whirlwind romance with Meghan Markle, it seems the royal brothers are fiercely protective of each other.
Royal author Katie Nicholl, in her 2017 book “Harry: Life, Loss, and Love”, takes a look behind the scenes in the lives of the princes.
She writes of the November 2010 announcement: “Harry adored Kate and, while he feared losing his brother to a degree, he was genuinely delighted for them.”
Harry said at the time: “It means I get a sister, which I have always wanted. I’ve known Kate for years andit’s great that she is now becoming part of the family.”
According to Ms Nicholl, Harry “had suspected his brother would come back engaged” after William whisked Kate off on a romantic three-week holiday to Kenya.
She continues: “When William called to tell him the good news, Harry let out a string of expletives before telling his brother and soon-to-be-sister-in-law, ‘It took you long enough!’”
She adds: “William asked if he was happy for him to have their late mother’s diamond-and-sapphire engagement ring.
“Harry had agreed, joking that he had no pressing need for it.”
According to Paul Burrell, Harry had selected his mother's world-famous engagement ring as a personal keepsake after Princess Diana’s death in 1997, and then “selflessly” gave it to his brother to propose with.
Meghan and Harry were 'distraught' before wedding reveals expert
When Prince Harry himself proposed in 2017, he designed his own yellow gold engagement for his bride Meghan Markle.
He used a central Botswanan diamond flanked by two smaller diamonds from Princess Diana’s collection.