Prince Harry’s learning of his sister-in-law Kate Middleton’s cancer diagnosis on TV paints a pretty accurate picture of the royal family’s current dynamics, according to a royal expert.
Royal historian and author Richard Fitzwilliams insists it’s very telling that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex weren’t notified ahead of Friday’s public announcement.
“It speaks volumes that Harry and Meghan learnt of the diagnosis from the news,” Fitzwilliams told TIME. “The brothers reportedly haven’t been in contact for months and trust has completely broken down.”
“A serious illness can change everything and bring families together,” he continued. “This may happen. Harry will return to see his father and perhaps the brothers will see each other.”
“It could open the path to reconciliation in the weeks and months ahead. However, it is unlikely at the moment,” Fitzwilliams added.
It’s understood that the Sussexes, who quit royal life in 2020 and hightailed it across the pond to Montecito, Calif., made contact with the Prince and Princess of Wales “privately” following Middleton’s announcement.
Still, it appears as though the Waleses made a conscious effort to keep the Sussexes out of the loop regarding their health woes, sources told The Post.
On Saturday, it emerged that Harry reportedly learned of his estranged sister-in-law’s diagnosis on TV.
“It is understood that Kate’s cancer diagnosis was not shared in advance with Harry and Meghan [Markle],” The Times UK reported, one day after the Princess of Wales, 42, revealed she’s undergoing preventative chemotherapy.
“Several sources confirm that there were no such conversations and it is thought Harry found out about Kate’s diagnosis from television, at the same time as the public.”
The report came one day after The Post exclusively reported that the couple were “blindsided” by the Princess of Wales’ cancer news.
“They had no idea, and only learned of the news around the same time the rest of the world found out,” an insider told us. “This goes to show the irreparable damage they have caused. The trust has been broken and the royal family is OK distancing themselves from them.”
Kate Middleton’s cancer diagnosis: Everything we know so far
Following the Princess of Wales’s shock cancer announcement Friday, Harry and Meghan said they hope for privacy for the Princess as she undergoes treatment.
“We wish health and healing for Kate and the family, and hope they are able to do so privately and in peace,” the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said in a statement.
Middleton, who wed Prince William in 2011, revealed her diagnosis in a video message Friday.
The mother of three noted that she is now in the early stages of undergoing “a course of preventative chemotherapy.”
