Prince Harry made a bold and unsolicited claim about his niece and nephew, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, which a leading royal expert believes would have infuriated his brother, the Prince of Wales.
The 'Spare' Mentality and a Brother's Blunt Reply
In the midst of his ongoing rift with the royal family, the Duke of Sussex revisited his long-held grievances about being the 'spare' to the heir. He even titled his explosive memoir Spare. During a 2023 interview with The Telegraph to promote the book, Harry extended his personal anxieties to his brother's children.
He revealed his fear that at least one of William and Kate's three children would end up feeling like he did. "I still feel a responsibility knowing that out of those three children, at least one will end up like me, the spare," Harry stated, adding, "and that hurts, that worries me."
The Duke admitted he had attempted to discuss these concerns with Prince William but received a very clear rebuttal. William made it "very clear" that his children were not Harry's responsibility.
Why William 'Will Have Hated' Harry's Comments
While the Prince of Wales has maintained a steadfast silence regarding the fallout with his brother, former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond told OK! Magazine that Harry's remarks about the Wales children would have been poorly received.
"Harry has a huge chip on his shoulder about being a spare, we all know that now, but he doesn't have to assume that William and Catherine's children will feel the same as him," Bond explained. She pointed to other royals like the late Duke of Edinburgh and the Princess Royal, who never considered themselves 'second-class' and carved out significant roles.
"Charlotte and Louis will be very important people with huge privilege and a huge platform, and so they don't need to feel spare," Jennie Bond reasoned. "Just because Harry felt spare, doesn't mean that his nephews and nieces will feel spare."
A Focus on Normalcy Within the Wales Household
Central to William and Kate's parenting philosophy is the desire to provide their children with as ordinary an upbringing as possible, despite their extraordinary future roles. Sources have previously emphasised that there is no preferential treatment given to Prince George as the future king within their home.
Daily chores, like laying the table and tidying up, are shared. Prince William himself has spoken about the importance of this normal family dynamic. In a 2016 interview, he said, "As far as we are concerned within our family unit, we are a normal family."
He expressed his hope that his children would experience the same loving father-son bond as any other. The close sibling relationship between George, Charlotte, and Louis is seen as a cornerstone of their upbringing, with the younger two expected to support their elder brother both in public life and privately in the years to come.
