Prince William’s Caring Gesture to Harry Goes Viral

Prince William opening up a family photo album to show Prince Harry a picture of him with their mother that he said was “quite sweet” has gone viral on TikTok.

A clip of William and Harry flicking through pictures of Princess Diana ahead of the 20th anniversary of her death was liked 67.5k times and viewed almost a million times.

In the footage, William hands his brother a photo album and says “actually I thought this was quite sweet” before showing a picture of Diana with her arms around a young Harry.

Why It Matters

William and Harry were still getting on at the time the footage was captured for the 2017 ITV documentary Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy.

However, their relationship has since been shattered by a deep rift that largely grew during the build up to Meghan and Harry’s 2018 wedding and the months that followed.

The apparent warmth seen on camera just a year earlier comes in stark contrast to their relationship now, with the two not speaking to each other.

What to Know

In 2017, William and Harry got together to mark the 20th anniversary of their mother’s death in a Paris car crash.

The filmmakers persuaded the brothers to open the family photo album and share some never before seen pictures from their childhood.

William also showed a picture of himself with a pregnant Diana and said to Harry: “You and I are both in this photograph. You’re in the tummy.”

“She smothered us with love, that’s for sure,” Harry said.

What People Are Saying

The footage was posted with the message: “I miss this duo sm [so much].”

One fan wrote on TikTok that it was “so sad the brothers don’t get along,” while another said: “Come on you guys can work it out again 😢.”

A third said: “I wish for them become close again their Mother would be HEARTBROKEN if she was alive. They have been thru [too] much and need to [find] common ground again.”

What Happens Next

Speculation William and Harry might put their differences behind them has been dying down as pessimism takes hold in the British media.

Harry acknowledged in a January 2023 interview with Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes that they are no longer in contact.

Life is long and it is not impossible that could change, but there is no clear path to reconciliation visible now.

Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek‘s The Royals Facebook page.

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