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Prince William reportedly advised his younger brother Prince Harry not to rush his relationship with Meghan Markle, according to royal biographers Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand in their book Finding Freedom.
Scobie and Durand claimed that before Harry married Markle, Prince William had a conversation with Harry during which he advised his younger brother to take his time getting to know Markle better before committing himself.
“Don’t feel you need to rush this. Take as much time as you need to get to know this girl,” William said, according to Scobie and Durand.
Prince William later reportedly regretted having the conversation with his brother because it is believed to have led to the rift between them, royal watcher Katie Nicholl claimed in an article published on Vanity Fair.
Harry found William’s comments offensive leading to rift
Scobie and Durand reported that Harry found William’s comments about Markle offensive and snobbish. He reportedly disapproved of William referring to Markle as “this girl.”
Royal watchers believe that the conversation was the first major incident that led to the rift between the brothers.
But the authors claimed that William offered the advice only because “he wanted to make sure that Harry wasn’t blindsided by lust.”
Harry ignored William’s advise
Harry ignored William’s advice and got engaged to Markle in November 2017, 16 months after they started dating.
Harry and Meghan reportedly met in July 2016 through a blind date arranged by a mutual friend.
The Express first reported they were dating in October 2016 and Harry officially confirmed the news in November 2016.
Their relationship was a whirlwind romance compared with William’s relationship with Kate.
Kate and William reportedly met in 2001 and got engaged nine years later in 2010.
According to Express, William waited nine years to propose to Kate because he wanted her to get used to life as a royal before marrying her.
William regrets talking to Harry about Markle, royal watcher claimed
Commenting on the revelation by Scobie and Durand in their book Finding Freedom, royal commenter Nicholl claimed that Willam later regretted advising his brother to take his time to get to know Markle better.
“As for William, he is said to regret that early conversation with Harry about Meghan because it led to the rift that continues to this day,” Nicholl wrote on Vanity Fair.
Although Nicholl acknowledged that William’s comment was “condescending” and that Harry was “understandably rankled” by it, she added that “hindsight will one day allow them all to acknowledge that William’s words, poorly chosen as they were, predicted the trouble that lay ahead.”
“… it’s also hard not to imagine how things might have turned out better if everyone had taken just a little more time,” the writer concluded.
Both Harry and William hope time will heal the rift between them
Harry admitted during the interview with Oprah that there is a rift between him and his older brother. But he said at the time that he hoped that time would heal the rift.
Monsters and Critics reported that sources close to William said the Duke of Cambridge is also “absolutely intent” that the rift between him and Harry will heal in time.