A Brother in Pain: Prince William 'Desperately Needs' Prince Harry During Kate Middleton's Brutal Cancer Fight

Princes William and Harry used to be "quite close" in the years after their mother Diana, Princess of Wales' death in 1997, but the princely dynamic is "vile hatred" these days.

"You can only think how desperately William would need his brother right now as a support, and that relationship just isn't there," royal expert Sarah Hewson shared.

This insight comes as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's year is busy with new Netflix projects, the Duchess' brand launch, film premieres, numerous visits and a "faux royal tour" under their belts, with their Colombia follow-up starting Thursday, August 15. But amid the busy Sussex schedule, British royal courtiers are said to find the couple's constant output to be chaotic.

"Buckingham Palace would prefer that Harry and Meghan retire into quiet obscurity, but that is not going to happen," royal editor Tom Sykes dished. "They are private citizens, so they cannot be banned from going or not going anywhere."

Although some analysts feel Harry's assistance to William would be "brotherly," others think the Prince of Wales' chaotic year in comparison doesn't have the next king wishing for a sibling reunion. Kate, Princess of Wales' ongoing preventative chemotherapy treatments have "stressed" the monarch-in-waiting "to the max."

"Make no mistake, William is keeping Kate and his family well away from Meghan and Harry," former royal butler to Diana, Princess of Wales, Paul Burrell, told an outlet.

"The door of Adelaide Cottage is shut, and there is no way in for Harry and Meghan," he added. "William knows that Harry can’t be trusted and doesn’t want any more upset in his family."

Burrell worked for the late princess from 1987 to 1997, after her tragic death. During this time as her assistant, the bestselling author also helped look after a young William and Harry, who both later criticized Burrell for writing a book about their mother in the early 2000s. Now it would seem that the future king may agree with some of the ex-royal aide's criticisms about the Duke of Sussex.

Burrell went on to say that His Royal Highness only considers Harry as "background noise" at this point and is likely okay with never speaking to him ever again due to what he wrote about him in Spare. In the tome, the fiery-haired prince joked about his elder brother's "bald head" and accused him of assaulting him in 2019, among many other disparaging excerpts.

The one-time butler also said the monarch-in-waiting would "explode" if Harry ever said anything negative about the Princess of Wales during a theoretical in-person meeting. He also shared how William is now the Prince Philip of the monarchy and "rules the family" due to King Charles III's busy schedule as head of state.

Marca reported on Hewson's remarks.