Prince Harry Wanted A Family Life Close To William, Kate Middleton, Book Claims

Prince Harry wanted to raise his family close to Prince William and Kate Middleton before he met Meghan Markle, according to royal correspondents Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand in their book "Finding Freedom." .

The Duke of Sussex was very close to his brother and sister-in-law. In fact, Prince Harry was the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's third wheel before he dated and married Markle. Due to their close bond, the younger royal thought of raising his own family close to the Cambridges, as per the book "Finding Freedom."

According to the authors, Prince Harry once told a friend that he "had an image of getting married and spending time with William and Kate, the two couples together, their children best friends," Town & Country reported.

Apparently, he had a change of heart because in January, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex decided to step back as senior members of the royal family. After carrying out their final royal engagement, Prince Harry and Markle flew to Los Angeles. With their U.S move, it would be hard for Archie to be best friends with his cousins Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

The outlet also noted that there was a falling-out between the royal siblings when Prince William told his younger brother to slow down his romance with Markle. The gap got worse after he married the former "Suits" star. In fact, the Cambridges reportedly never visited the Sussexes when they were staying in Oxfordshire.

"The invite was there," a source told the book’s authors.

Eventually, Prince Harry felt that the close proximity with his brother was becoming less and less appealing. He started to long for some space.

"Everywhere you turn, you’re surrounded by staff and family. He was at a point in his life where he was working with his brother, doing the foundation with his brother and living by his brother," a source told Scobie and Durand. "It was too much.”

However, according to royal expert Katie Nicholl, who also wrote “Harry and Meghan,” Prince Harry had always felt like a spare when he was with Prince William, the future king. For Nicholl, Prince Harry had always wanted to break free from the Cambridges and Markle was his catalyst.

"I think Meghan has very much been the catalyst in giving him that confidence to break free from William and Kate, and to break free from that trio dynamic, which was at times cozy and convenient, but actually wasn't really what he wanted," Nicholl said.