Reason why Prince William was 'livid' with brother Harry when he married Meghan

06 November 2023 , 17:45

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Harry on his wedding day walking with William (Image: Getty Images)

Prince William was fuming with Harry on his wedding day which was down to his appearance and not Meghan Markle, it is alleged.

The royal brothers have had a well documented feud in recent years with their relationship having deteriorated since Harry’s move to the United States. Regular appearances by the Duke of Sussex on American television where he has been critical of the royal way of life has added to the friction.

One of Harry's most eye-popping claims in Spare is that a physical confrontation took place between him and William at Nottingham Cottage in Kensington Palace in 2019. The book says William had called Meghan “difficult”, “rude” and “abrasive” – comments which the younger brother said parroted “the press narrative” about his wife.

William was not happy over Harry's beard, it is claimed (PA)

But before that they did not see eye-to-eye over Harry’s decision to have a beard at his wedding in 2018. In his memoir Harry said that he already had permission from the late Queen and it was William that objected. "But then I explained it to my brother and he... bristled? Not the done thing, he said. Military rules, so forth," he said in his book. "A beard was thought by some to be a clear violation of protocol and long-standing norms, especially since I was getting married in my Army uniform."

Harry claims that he backed his decision to have a beard by pointing out other royals who had also done so like George V, and that William was angry that he had spoken to the Queen about it. "You put her in an uncomfortable position, Harold! She had no choice but to say yes," Harry alleged his brother said.

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When William insisted that he should get rid of the beard as he had had to shave his own off, Harry felt that he had found the reason there why his brother was so adamant about it. "Ah, there it was. After he'd come back from an assignment with Special Forces, Willy was sporting a full beard, and someone told him to be a good boy, run along and shave it. He hated the idea of me enjoying a perk he'd been denied," Harry added.

During a televised interview to promote Spare, he described his beard as “a shield to my anxiety” and that it made him feel like “the new Harry”. Speaking to ITV’s Tom Bradby, he said: “I think…there’s a level of competition there. I remembered that William had a beard himself and that Granny and other people, the ones to tell – told him that he had to shave it off.

"The difference for me, if there was a difference, but the difference for me was, as I explained to my grandmother, that this beard I’m still – that I’m still wearing, felt to me at the time like the new Harry. As almost like a shield to my anxiety.”

Tim Hanlon