Princes William and Harry, once bonded through the turmoil of their parents’ divorce and the devastation of losing their mother at such a young age, now find themselves entangled in a fiery conflict.

With William in the UK and Harry across the Atlantic, the disparity between their lives has never been more stark. The turning point seemed to arrive with Harry’s nuptials to Meghan Markle and the couple’s struggle within the Royal framework.

The tension was spotlighted in the Sussexes’ incendiary Netflix docuseries Harry and Meghan, In it, they speak candidly about moments of discord, particularly when Harry expresses anger over what he perceives as unsanctioned palace statements regarding bullying allegations. This, Harry suggests, further drove a wedge between him and his brother.

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As footage of the brothers in happier times plays alongside headlines of their dissension in the show’s fifth episode, Harry laments: “I mean, the saddest part of it was this wedge created between me and my brother so that he’s now on the institution’s side.”

“And I get, part of that I get. I understand right? That’s his inheritance, so to some extent it’s already ingrained in him that part of his responsibility is the survivability and the continuation of this institution. That day, a story came out that part of the reason why Meghan and I were leaving was because William had bullied us out. And once I got in the car after the meeting, I was told about a joint statement that had been put out in my name and my brother’s name squashing the story about him bullying us out of the family.”

“I couldn’t believe it. No one had asked me permission to put my name to a statement like that. And I rang M and I told her and she burst into floods of tears because within four hours they were happy to lie to protect my brother and yet for three years, they were never willing to tell the truth to protect us.”

Harry celebrated his 40th birthday on September 15, and no one could have predicted how his estranged Royal relatives would publicly acknowledge the day. However, both King Charles and William took to their official social media accounts to send their regards.

For the first time in three years, the Royal Family account shared a post on X that simply said: “Wishing The Duke of Sussex a very happy 40th birthday today! ” The message was also accompanied by a picture of a smiling Harry and a birthday cake emoji.

About an hour later, the Prince and Princess of Wales’ official account shared the same post with a warm message: “Wishing a Happy 40th Birthday to The Duke of Sussex! ” Despite the well-known rift between the brothers that seems far from healing, this gesture came as a surprise to many.

Royal biographer and Majesty Magazine’s editor-in-chief Ingrid Seward explained the significance behind the birthday wishes to the Mirror, saying: “King Charles would have celebrated his son’s 40th from a distance. Milestone birthdays are important to the royals. Whatever upsets Harry has caused would have been forgotten for the day.”

She added, “Even Prince William wished his brother Happy Birthday even if it was through clenched teeth. He doesn’t trust him, but together with his family, he wished him the best on his milestone birthday.”