Why Prince William 'Can't Forgive' Harry, Queen Gave Up On Their Reconciliation: Royal Author

A royal expert believes Prince William and Prince Harry will never have the same relationship they once did.

During an appearance on GBNews' "Dan Wootton Tonight" Thursday, Katie Nicholl, author of the new book on the British royal family "The New Royals — Queen Elizabeth's Legacy and the Future of the Crown," claimed that the brothers' relationship is still strained despite their show of unity as they mourned Queen Elizabeth II's death over the past several days.

According to the Vanity Fair royal editor, the new Prince of Wales "simply can't forgive" his younger brother.

"He always thought Harry would be his wingman, now he's doing it on his own. Thank goodness he's got Kate by his side," Nicholl told host Dan Wootton.

The royal expert also discussed the claims in her book that the Queen was sad and exhausted in her final months due to the drama within the royal family.

"The most interesting thing was how did Her Majesty feel about all of these? We know that she loved Harry. She was very close to Harry, and they always had a close relationship," Nicholl told Wootton of the bond the Duke of Sussex shared with his grandmother. "She still took his call right up until the end. She always made time for him."

In her new tome, Nicholl claimed that Queen Elizabeth had confided to a friend her feelings about Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle's decision to quit royal life and the ensuing drama they caused.

The confidante, who was not named, reportedly told Nicholl that the Queen said she was "exhausted" and "very hurt" by the "turmoil of their decision," according to the book.

"I think [the Queen] realized that there was nothing more that she could do to forge a reconciliation between William and Harry," Nicholl suggested on the show Thursday. "I think most people think it is terribly sad that the twilight years of her reign, when she should have been enjoying her time, spending her time with her great-grandchildren and grandchildren, was marred by this awful family rift."

Prince Harry and Prince William's relationship reportedly started to become strained even before the former married Markle in 2018. The brothers became estranged after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back from royal duties and relocated to California in 2020.

Tensions between the Sussexes and the royal family reportedly worsened after Prince Harry and Markle gave bombshell interviews accusing the palace of dismissing the duchess' pleas for help and claiming that their very presence upset the dynamic of the royal family.

Queen Elizabeth II's death on Sept. 8 reunited Prince Harry with Prince William, who invited his younger brother and sister-in-law to join him and wife Kate Middleton in greeting crowds gathered outside Windsor Castle, two days after the Queen's passing.

An unnamed source close to Prince Harry told the Sunday Times of London at the time that although being in each other's company has been "uncomfortable" for the brothers, "everybody is trying their best."