Prince William 'frustrated' Harry was able to do the one thing he wasn't

03 January 2024 , 10:13

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William was 'frustrated' Harry was allowed to do more than him (Image: PA)

Last year when Prince Harry's memoir Spare was released, we got never-before-seen insight into what life is really like behind closed doors as a member of the Royal Family, and the full scoop on the fraught state of his relationship with his elder brother, Prince William - at least from Harry's perspective.

The memoir explored at its core the ways in which life differed for Harry as the 'Spare' to William as the heir to the throne, and Harry explained there was one thing in particular that he was allowed to do, but his brother was denied, that apparently left William extremely '"frustrated".

The "frustration" manifested itself when the two brothers were living together in a quaint Shropshire cottage, while they both underwent pilot training. While they were there, the pair undertook a joint interview with the press, during which William, to Harry's surprise, started making jokes at his younger brother's expense.

William spent the interview jokingly complaining about Harry's slobby living habits, and his tendency to snore, which Harry objected to, telling the interviewers that it was not true.

Eventually, all parties descended into laughter, and Harry admitted "We often bantered like that, but when I look back on it now, I can't help but wonder if there wasn't something else at play.

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Harry claims in his book: "I was training to get to the front line, the same place Willy had been training to get, but the Palace had scuttled his plans. The Spare, sure, let him run around a battlefield like a chicken with its head cut off, if that's what he likes. But the heir? No."

William had then pivoted to training to become a search and rescue pilot, something he ended up doing for three years, conducting 156 missions and rescuing an impressive 149 people.

However, Harry suspected - at least in hindsight - that his brother had found the decision that he wouldn't go to the front lines a difficult one to swallow and was "perhaps feeling quietly frustrated about it."

Harry expressed that despite any frustration his brother may have felt that he was allowed more freedom to take risks than the heir to the throne, he felt it was William who was really doing the "remarkable, vital work [...] saving lives every week. I was proud of him and full of respect for the way he was dedicating himself to his preparation."

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Emma Mackenzie