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What Harry has said about rift with William as brothers sit apart at coronation

Harry and William sat near to each other during the coronation service. (Getty)
Harry and William sat near to each other during the coronation service. (Getty)

Prince Harry and Prince William sat two rows apart at their father's coronation in Westminster Abbey today as the estranged brothers were brought together for the first time since the Queen's funeral.

It was their first meeting since the Duke of Sussex published his controversial memoir Spare, in which he made a number of explosive claims about the Royal Family, including that William attacked him during a row about Meghan Markle.

The book deepened Harry's existing rift with his family, with the Sussexes having already sent shockwaves through Buckingham Palace with their bombshell 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey.

As he has stepped down as a working member of the Royal Family to start a new life with his family in the US, Harry did not take part in the King's procession or ceremony in Westminster Abbey.

He was pictured smiling at audience members as he walked into the abbey alone without Meghan, but didn't speak to William.

Yahoo understands Harry's visit was a fleeting one and, as William joined King Charles on the balcony, his brother was already heading home to the US.

Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank leave Westminster Abbey following the coronation ceremony of Britain's King Charles and Queen Camilla, in London, Saturday, May 6, 2023. (Toby Melville, Pool via AP)
Prince Harry leaves Westminster Abbey with his cousin Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank. (Pool via AP)
Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex leaves Westminster Abbey after the Coronation Ceremonies of Britain's King Charles III and Britain's Queen Camilla in central London on May 6, 2023. - The set-piece coronation is the first in Britain in 70 years, and only the second in history to be televised. Charles will be the 40th reigning monarch to be crowned at the central London church since King William I in 1066. Outside the UK, he is also king of 14 other Commonwealth countries, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP) (Photo by ODD ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Harry leaves Westminster Abbey after the coronation. (Getty)

During a promotional round of interviews for his book, Harry spoke at length about his strained fraternal ties, most notably in an interview with Tom Bradby on ITV News.

Yahoo News UK has broken down the key moments of the interview to remind us of the background to their rift.

  • Asked about the alleged physical confrontation, Harry told ITV News' Tom Bradby: "What was different here was this level of frustration and... I saw this red mist in him." In his book, he wrote: "He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. I landed on the dog's bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me. I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out."

  • Harry claimed William and Kate told him to wear the Nazi costume to a party in 2005 which made the front page of the Sun. Harry claimed the now-Prince and Princess of Wales "howled with laughter" when they saw him in the outfit.

  • Harry revealed that his mother's funeral plans initially meant only William would walk in the procession behind Diana's coffin because, at 15, perhaps he seemed old enough to handle it. However, Harry said "there was absolutely no way" he could let his brother do that by himself, and agreed to take part, something he said William would have done for him too.

  • Harry said William didn't like it when Diana dressed them in the same clothes when they were children, though he "found it quite funny".

  • Harry said he and William "felt guilt" when meeting with members of the public after their mother's death, and they didn't understand why when shaking hands, "wet hands that we were shaking, we couldn’t understand why their hands were wet. But it was all the tears that they were wiping away. So that was very strange for us, as, you know, youngsters".

Read more: Met Police criticised for handing out coronation wristbands as protesters arrested

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - SEPTEMBER 11:  Princess Diana With Her Sons Prince William And Prince Harry Standing On The Steps Of Wetherby School On The First Day For Prince Harry.  (Photo by Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)
Princess Diana with William and Harry outside Wetherby School, on Harry's first day. (Getty Images)
  • Harry admitted he and his brother "shared a joke" as they walked behind their grandmother's coffin during her funeral procession earlier this year, saying: "Well, at least we know the way."

  • Harry described William as his "archnemesis" in Spare, adding that the press "always pitched us against each other. They pitched Kate and Meghan against each other."

  • Harry spoke about how much he loves his brother and father and wasn't trying to "harm" or hurt them by writing his memoir. But he wants his family and their staff members to admit they have been complicit in the negative press coverage of the Sussexes.

  • Harry insisted he wants to reconcile with his family and get his "brother back", but no longer recognises them, adding: "As much as they probably don't recognise me."

  • Harry wrote that William's marriage to Kate felt like "yet another farewell", adding: "The brother I'd escorted into Westminster Abbey that morning was gone — forever."

  • Harry claimed his brother wasn't interested in spending time with him when he started at Eton College. The duke said in his interview with ITV that he was "hurt at the time", but now he has his own children, he realises siblings "need their space".

  • Harry claimed he and William never wanted Charles to marry Camilla and asked him not to, but appreciated they "were and remain very happy together".

Read more: Coronation flypast: What is the route?

WINDSOR, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 19:  Prince William, Prince of Wales and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex join the Procession following the State Hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II towards St George's Chapel on September 19, 2022 in Windsor, England. The committal service at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, took place following the state funeral at Westminster Abbey. A private burial in The King George VI Memorial Chapel followed. Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on September 8, 2022, and is succeeded by her eldest son, King Charles III. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
William and Harry walk behind Queen Elizabeth's coffin before the committal service in Windsor. (Getty Images)
  • Harry said William "aired concerns" about Harry's plans to marry Meghan but never tried to "dissuade him" from doing it. He questioned whether William's concerns about Meghan were based on that "maybe [William] predicted very early on what the press' reaction was going to be".

  • In one of his more controversial claims, Harry says William and Kate never get on with Meghan from the start. He says he thought having a wife or long-time partner would bring him closer to William and Kate. Instead, he claims that there was "stereotyping" that caused a "bit of a barrier to them really sort of, you know, introducing or welcoming her in". Asked by Bradby to explain, Harry says: "Well, American actress, divorced, biracial, there’s – there’s all different parts to that."

  • Harry talked about a “level of competition” with his brother. Discussing an argument about whether he should keep his beard for his wedding to Meghan, he says William “found it hard” that Harry could get to keep his beard while William had been previously told he had to shave his own one off.

  • Harry claimed an unsuccessful attempt at reconciliation took place after his 2018 wedding, which ended in an awkward hug and Kate "gripping the chair" until her hands went white. Harry says he "had put a lot of hope in the idea that it would be William and Kate, and me and whoever. I thought the four of us would bring me and William closer together".

  • Harry explained that being "the third wheel to them [Kate and William], which was fun at times" but was "also I guess slightly awkward".

Read more: Penny Mordaunt 'did press-ups' so she could carry massive sword at King’s coronation

LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 12:  (L-R) Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry during
William, Kate and Harry during celebrations on the Mall for the late Queen's 90th birthday. Harry said he often felt like a "third wheel". (Getty Images)
  • Harry described an apparent exchange at Prince Philip's funeral in which William insisted that he just wanted his brother to be happy, and swore "on mummy's life", which Harry says was a "secret code" that was rarely used - adding that he "didn't believe him" anyway.

  • Harry appears to claim that aides working for his father and stepmother used the press to brief against his brother. He says William and Kate went through “the same things Meghan and I went through” from Charles and Camilla’s office. He says ”William and Kate suffered” from the moment they were married. He goes on to say that he didn’t think the same would happen to him and Meghan, before adding: How wrong I was."

  • Harry explains that he and William have been set "on different paths", since their mother's death and that they are "two individuals who experienced a very similar traumatic experience but dealt with it in two very different ways".

  • He says he and William have discussed for "many years" who is "policing" the British press, but Charles called it a "suicide mission" trying to change things.

Buckingham Palace has not commented on any of the claims made in Harry's book