06 December 2023 , 15:22
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There was a time when Prince Harry couldn't have been closer to brother Prince William and the Princess of Wales. But on the day of their wedding, he revealed, a prophetic thought crossed his mind.
It's no secret that relations between William, Kate and Harry are at an all-time low. Following Harry and Meghan's move to the States, the former trio are barely on speaking terms - with the release of Omid Scobie's book doing nothing to quell the ill feeling.
Things were very different at the time of the Wales's wedding back in 2011, however. Harry previously described Kate as "the sister I never had" and the close bond between the three was evident at their public engagements together.
William and Kate have been happily married for 12 years now (Getty Images)But for Harry, their marriage, which took place on 29 April in Westminster Abbey, marked the end of an era. He wrote about the historical event in his tell-all memoir Spare, stating: "The brother I'd escorted into Westminster Abbey that morning was gone - forever. Who could deny it?
"He'd never again be first and foremost Willy. We'd never again ride together across the Lesotho countryside with capes blowing behind us. We'd never again share a horsey-smelling cottage while learning to fly. Who shall separate us? Life, that's who."
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Noting that Kate looked "incredible" coming down the aisle, he continued, "I recall Willy walking her back up the aisle, and as they disappeared through the door, into the carriage that would convey them to Buckingham Palace, into the eternal partnership they'd pledged, I recall thinking: Goodbye."
In the book, the Duke of Sussex also said that the brothers did not act as each other's best men - despite reports to the contrary. "The public expected me to be the best man, and thus the Palace saw no choice but to say that I was. In truth, Willy didn't want me giving a best-man speech," he wrote.
"He didn't think it safe to hand me a live mic and put me in a position to go off script. I might say something wildly inappropriate. He wasn't wrong." Harry added that his brother's actual best men were James Meade, an Eton pal who delivered the speech, and Thomas van Straubenzee, whom the groom had known since their days at Ludgate Prep.
The Palace did the same thing when Harry was about to get married too, he said. When William seemed out of sorts the night before, Harry recalls wondering at the time, "Was he feeling bad about not being my best man? Was he upset that I'd asked my old mate Charlie?" (Charlie van Straubanzee, Thomas' younger brother, a friend since Ludgate.)