Why Prince William, Kate Middleton Didn't Meet With Harry And Meghan In UK: Royal Expert

Prince William and Kate Middleton have a "a lack of trust" with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle following the couple's explosive tell-all with Oprah Winfrey over a year ago, a royal expert has claimed.

Katie Nicholl, author of several books on the royal family including "Harry: Life, Loss, and Love," spoke with Entertainment Tonight about where the Cambridges and the Sussexes stand today, more than two years after Prince Harry and Markle stepped back from their roles as working royals and moved to California.

The royal expert told the outlet that Prince William and Middleton didn't meet with Prince Harry and Markle when they were in the U.K. in June for Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee celebrations due to trust issues.

"I think that does signal not just a busy timetable on the part of the Cambridges but perhaps also a bit of a lack of trust," Nicholl claimed. "I do know that William and Kate are worried that anything they might say or do with the fact that it could end up being leaked to the media. So, I think in the case of really having to prove now that they can be trusted."

Prince Harry and Markle, who have projects in the works with Spotify and Netflix including a docuseries, are aware that they have some issues to work on with his family, the royal expert claimed.

"If there’s going to be any chance of moving on, repairing relationships and really trying to heal some pretty deep wounds, then I think Harry and Meghan are going to have to respect the wishes of the royals," Nicholl added. "I think Harry and Meghan are absolutely going to have to respect the wishes of [Queen Elizabeth II] and [Prince Charles] and that these meetings remain private."

While they were in the U.K. last month, Prince Harry and Markle extended an olive branch to Prince William and Middleton by inviting them to their daughter Lilibet's first birthday party at Frogmore Cottage on June 4, but the Cambridges did not attend, unnamed sources told Page Six.

Prince William, his wife and two of their three children, Prince George, 8, and Princess Charlotte, 7, had to travel to Wales that day as part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. The Cambridges also attended the Platinum Party at the Palace concert later that night.

"Things are still fraught — William is still wary of spending any time alone with Harry as you never quite know what may be reported back afterwards," an unnamed U.K.-based royal insider told Page Six.

Royal expert Christopher Andersen, author of "Brothers and Wives: Inside the Private Lives of William, Kate, Harry and Meghan," claimed to Us Weekly that Prince William and Middleton "made no effort at all to introduce Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis to [Lilibet]."

But while Prince Harry and Markle did not meet with Prince William and Middleton privately, the couple and their two children, Archie, 3, and Lilibet, did spend time with Prince Charles, his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and the children's great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth.

"It was a fantastic visit. The prince was delighted to see his grandson and meet his granddaughter for the first time," an unnamed royal source told People.