Behind the palace doors, one question keeps coming back: is Prince William right to stay angry at his younger brother? A royal expert has now answered it bluntly.
Royal expert Duncan Larcombe has sided firmly with the heir, saying William "has every right" to be angry at Harry. In his view, the Sussexes are doing precisely what the late Queen said they could not do when they stepped back. That claim sits at the centre of the William Harry royal rift.
Time and time again, Larcombe argues, the couple have cashed in on their royal status, making tens of millions of pounds by selling the royal brand, a brand that is usually tightly controlled and carefully orchestrated. That, he suggests, is the heart of William's anger: not just a family row, but a question of whether two people who walked away from the job should still profit from its name.
His example is the couple's Nottingham tour. Some might claim they are just private individuals doing charitable work, Larcombe says, but no other private individuals get that level of media coverage. The coverage itself, he argues, proves the point: if they were truly private citizens, the cameras would not follow them this way.
The family, meanwhile, is split over how to handle Harry's efforts to get back into the fold. Some are demanding, or quietly hoping, that William will let bygones be bygones. Others fear what another round of revelations could do. Larcombe plants himself firmly in William's corner: the heir's anger is justified.
No comment was reported from Harry or Meghan in response to Larcombe's claims, and the Sussexes have not publicly answered this latest criticism. That silence leaves the argument one-sided for now, but it does not make it go away.
To understand why this row runs so deep, go back to the moment the Sussex chapter blew up: the step back from royal life known as Megxit. Everything since has flowed from it.
In the height of the pandemic, the couple moved from Vancouver Island in Canada to Santa Barbara in California, via Tyler Perry's house. Before that move, their final round of royal work had included the Endeavour Fund Awards and the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey.
Then came the 12-month review period. When it concluded, the Sussexes were confirmed as not returning, Harry lost his honorary military titles and royal patronages, and the break became official. There would be no half-in, half-out arrangement.
From that point on came the interviews, Oprah Winfrey, 60 Minutes, CBS, the BBC, and the docuseries Harry & Meghan, after deals were signed with both Netflix and Spotify. The Netflix deal is said to be ongoing, though in a diminished capacity. The Spotify deal fell through, and the company's chief executive, Daniel Ek, was even reported to have accused the couple of being "grafters".
Then, in January 2023, came the memoir Spare, with its account of the Sandringham summit, the confrontation with William that ended with Harry knocked to the floor onto a dog bowl, and a promise of "more material" for a possible second book.
In between all of this, in 2021, Lilibet joined the family, not before Meghan had suffered a miscarriage she later wrote about for The New York Times as "The Losses We Share".
The only documented returns to the UK where Meghan followed her husband were for the Platinum Jubilee in June 2022, then the Queen's funeral, and later the King's Coronation. After that, Archie and Lilibet became Prince and Princess, which their father described as their birthright. The titles were a statement in themselves: the Sussex children would keep their royal identity.
Many years later, Charles and Harry made their first official contact at Windsor Castle, over tea for nearly an hour. Since then, critical interviews have reduced, and the Sussexes are said to be working towards rehabilitation, despite William's rumoured dissatisfaction.
That is the full picture Larcombe is pointing at: a couple who left royal life, kept the royal spotlight, and turned it into money and media, while the brother who stayed behind is expected to forgive and forget.
What This Means (Our Analysis)
Larcombe's argument works because it is not really about feelings, it is about rules. If the deal of stepping back was that the Sussexes would stop trading on the crown, then every big deal and headline tour looks like a broken promise. William's anger, in this reading, is not petty; it is protective, about the institution he will one day lead.
But the argument has a weak spot. The Sussexes would say they are private citizens now, doing charitable work and telling their own story. The line between "cashing in" and "earning a living in the public eye" is exactly where the two sides disagree, and no expert quote settles it. Harry clearly believes his story is his to tell, and his supporters would call that honesty, not exploitation.
What happens next could depend on the quiet work behind the scenes. The Windsor tea showed contact is possible. If rehabilitation continues and the critical interviews stay toned down, William may soften over time. If another memoir or explosive interview lands, Larcombe's case gets stronger. For now, the rift stays open, and his verdict gives William's defenders their loudest argument yet.
- Larcombe says William "has every right" to be angry at Harry, arguing the Sussexes are doing what the late Queen said they could not do.
- He claims the couple have made tens of millions by selling the royal brand, pointing to their Nottingham tour's media coverage as proof.
- The Sussexes' break became final after a 12-month review, costing Harry his honorary military titles and royal patronages.
- Their post-royal years brought the Oprah interview, the Harry & Meghan docuseries, the Netflix deal, the failed Spotify deal, and the memoir Spare in January 2023.
- Contact resumed with an hour-long tea between Charles and Harry at Windsor Castle, with the Sussexes said to be working towards rehabilitation despite William's rumoured dissatisfaction.
