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Harry’s mid-life crisis: As prince turns 40 and remains estranged from family, old friends say he is ‘lost’
Prince Harry is preparing to turn 40 on September 15 — but it is pretty safe to assume his brother, Prince William, the future King of England, won’t be wishing him a happy birthday.
The renegade royal will enter his fifth decade with an A-list party organized by his wife Meghan Markle,
But it will be in Montecito, California, 5,000 miles away from the father and brother he grew up with after the tragic death of his mother, Princess Diana, when he was just 12 years old.
This week, Harry was in the same room with William for the first time in over a year — but there was no thawing of the frost that set in after Harry’s infamous Oprah Winfrey interview and the publication of his memoir, “Spare.”
It’s said the two brothers, once thick as thieves, did not speak, and William does not want Harry at his own eventual coronation.
Harry, who left the royal family for life in America in 2020, flew back to his homeland to attend a memorial for his uncle, Lord Robert Fellowes, a long-time royal courtier who was married to Princess Diana’s sister, Lady Jane Fellowes.
“William is not speaking to Harry,” said one source. “Harry is not the issue here.”
Another royal insider who has known them both said, “William is furious. I’m not sure what can ever be done to mend fences.”
William, 42, was sent over the edge when Harry wrote in his book about Kate Middleon, blaming her for encouraging him to wear a Nazi costume to a party in 2005.
Middleton and King Charles, who have both been battling cancer, were the accused in another book, by reported Markle confidant Omid Scobie, as the “racist” royals who asked what color Harry and Markle’s mixed-race children would be.
On Thursday, both brothers attended the service for Fellowes at St Mary’s Church in Snettisham, close to the royal Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.
However, onlookers said they stood far apart from each other and did not talk.
The Reverend Dan Tansey, who oversaw the service, admitted he was surprised to see both William and Harry at the service which was attended by around 300 people.
He told the Daily Mail, “It was only as I was thanking the congregation as they left that Prince William was shaking my hand, and then very quickly after that, so did Prince Harry.
“It was a surprise but a really pleasant one that they had both come, but maybe less shocking that William was there … I don’t recollect them speaking to each other but there were a lot of family members and friends speaking to them.”
The last time the brothers were in the same place was at King Charles’ coronation last May, and Harry flew back to the US that same day.