They are the warring Windsors, angry brothers living thousands of miles apart with not a word uttered between them for the best part of two years.
Today, the relationship between Princes William and Harry is strained to the point where reconciliation seems unlikely, perhaps even impossible. However, this was not always the case.
Having worked as a royal photographer, I have fond memories of capturing moments of Princes William and Harry as jovial and content young boys. They later developed into admirable young men seemingly adapting well to the challenges of royal life.
In a recent two-part documentary, photographers who have photographed the royals were invited to revisit their collections of overlooked and unreleased images, delving into the past to understand what may have led to the current state of their relationship.
The result is a selection which charts their lives from the tensions of living with feuding parents, through their mother’s tragic death to the final, emotional split. There is something else revealed by these pictures, too. Some might feel, with me, they offer just a glimpse of hope for their future.
Helping hand for furious Harry
March 2008
Nothing, to me, sums up the strength of the relationship the two boys once enjoyed more than this picture.
Prince William put an end to Harry’s TV Interview when he felt his brother had been through enough and he helped carry Harry’s kit to the car.
Concerned for Harry’s safety, the Ministry of Defence famously cut short his tour of duty in Afghanistan and he flew back to Britain on the first available flight.
At first glance, there’s nothing unusual to see: a young man in chinos helps load bags of luggage into a suburban estate car.
Except, of course, that the man in question is Prince William, heir to the throne. And this scene at a Royal Air Force (RAF) base in England is historic – a moment of high tension for the Royal Family.
When I took these photos at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, news of Harry’s deployment to Afghanistan had just been mistakenly leaked by an Australian lifestyle magazine. The news went global.
Concerned for Harry’s safety, the Ministry of Defence famously cut short his tour of duty and he flew back to the UK on the first available flight, arriving on March 1.
I still recall the look of disgust Harry gave to the British press pack although we had nothing to do with the leak. As far as he was concerned, however, we were all tarred with the same brush.
William looked just as annoyed and, inside the airport building, he gently cut short Harry’s TV Interview when he felt his brother had been through enough and he helped carry Harry’s kit and loaded it in the back of the car.
Neither brother looked at us or posed for photos or answered questions, united in their anger.
William’s first day at Eton
September 1995
Charles and Diana were ill-fated as a couple but they were caring parents who ensured their sons were treated alike and were given the same opportunities.
The brothers dressed in the same clothes, went to the same schools and played with the same friends.
Although, today, he has a polished look in public – and it is Harry who hides away from the press – William had always been the more reticent of the two.
Prince William, then aged 13, faced a daunting array of journalists and photographers on his first day at Eton College.
I remember Charles driving with his elder son in his open-top Aston Martin to watch the polo game at Windsor. When 13-year-old William saw the photographers, he ducked his head.
This photo was taken in September 1995 on his first day at Eton College.
The family had to pose before a daunting press pack of 150 and William, unsurprisingly, was nervous until Diana leaned forward and said something that made him smile.
Although their marriage had already fallen apart and they separated three years earlier, Charles and Diana put on a real show of togetherness that day.
Diana is angry with the Queen Mother
July 1996
This is not my best photo as I was stationed behind three rows of royal fans – having dashed from photographing Queen Elizabeth II and Nelson Mandela at the Dorchester Hotel. But I think it is a revealing one.
This was July 11, 1996. Diana wasn’t at all happy and the young princes, accompanied by a friend, seemed to have picked up the vibe.
It had been Diana’s turn to look after William and Harry and she’d planned a fun day out at the Royal Tournament, the world’s largest military pageant, in West London.
Snubbing the popular Queen Mother would have been terrible publicity for Diana so she had no choice but to abandon her plans for a private family outing.
Unfortunately for her, though, the boy’s great-grandmother, the Queen Mother (mother of the late Queen Elizabeth II), was also attending the show but in an official capacity.
And, getting wind of their presence, the matriarch invited Diana and her boys to join her in the Royal Box.
Snubbing the popular Queen Mother would have been terrible publicity for Diana so she had no choice but to abandon her plans for a private family outing and take the princes to join the royal party.
She appeared furious, as this picture shows.
William and Harry wait for their mother’s coffin
September 1997
Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer has said it was a ‘very bizarre and cruel thing’ for his two nephews, William and Harry, then aged 15 and 12, to walk behind their mother’s body at her funeral.
I agreed with him at the time – and I still do now.
On September, I was with a group of 30 photographers at Marlborough Gate on the Mall – the long drive to Buckingham Palace – where the two princes were due to join their mother’s cortege.
William kept his head bowed throughout. Harry looked stunned, as if he had no idea where he was or what he was expected to do.
And there they waited, in the shadow of our enormous, intrusive, press lenses for what must have seemed like an eternity.
I’ve reported on many royal funerals, large and small, and the crowds of onlookers have always been quiet and respectful.
This, however, was bizarre. The crowds gathered along The Mall shouted at her coffin as if she were still alive.
Right there in front of William and Harry, they bawled out, ‘We love you Diana!’, ‘Rest in Peace’, and ‘we’ll always remember you’, accompanied by wails and even screams.
When this photo was taken the five chief mourners were joining the procession.
William kept his head bowed throughout. Harry looked stunned, as if he had no idea where he was or what he was expected to do.
Charles looked as if he were terrified the crowds would turn on him.
Shy William meets the female fans
August 2001
One possible reason for William’s youthful self-consciousness was that for several years he was treated as the pop-star prince with groups of girls screaming whenever they saw him.
He seemed to find it mortifying.
These photos were taken in August 2001 when the brothers attended the Queen Mother’s 101st birthday lunch at Clarence House, her London home (now King Charles’s official residence).
When the prince arrived, well-wishers went berserk and began shouting ‘We love you William!’ much to his embarrassment.
As they walked back inside, I remember that Harry and their cousin Peter Phillips – son of Princess Anne, pictured left – teased William mercilessly.
When William arrived and stood behind his great grandmother the well-wishers went berserk and began shouting ‘We love you William!’ much to his embarrassment.
There was a particular moment of hilarity when, between the screams, a solitary middle-aged woman called out ‘and I love you Charles!’
Harry was never jealous of William’s pin-up status and this is another example of how he had his brother’s back.
In this case, he eased the tension by encouraging him to roll with it, saying, ‘look they all adore you’. As they walked back inside I remember that Harry and their cousin Peter Phillips – son of Princess Anne – teased William mercilessly.
The blushing prince
November 2004
Princes Harry and William are seen here at Chester Cathedral for the wedding of Lady Tamara Grosvenor, daughter of the Duke of Westminster, to Edward van Cutsem.
Sharing the joke is the groom’s brother, Hugh van Cutsem .
Once again the crowds were shouting out to William who blushed with nerves and embarrassment.
The princes had known the van Cutsems all their lives.
Hugh senior was a friend of Charles’s from their days at Cambridge University and, for 10 years, the family lived at Anmer Hall, Norfolk, now the country home of William and Kate.
Once again the crowds were shouting out to William who blushed with nerves and embarrassment.
Harry, again, had his brother’s back and was trying to jolly him out of his embarrassment.
Harry tells Prince Charles to ‘shut up’
September 1988
Charles was back again at Eton College in September 1998, this time with his younger son, Prince Harry.
Once again, there was a large press pack awaiting his arrival in the rain.
It must have been daunting for Harry, who was only 13, yet there was no sign of nerves and he seemed happy as he posed for the cameras.
Prince Harry on his first day at Eton College. He didn’t seem at all daunted.
It was just two days after the first anniversary of his mother’s death. A statement recently released on behalf of William and Harry had declared that public mourning for their mother was now over and it was time to move on.
‘They therefore hope very much that their mother and her memory will now finally be allowed to rest in peace,’ it said.
When he came to sign the entrance book inside the college, Charles asked Prince Harry if he’d signed it in the correct place – a wry quip as his older brother William had memorably ignored the allocated spot and put his signature at the bottom of the page.
‘Shut up Dad! retorted Harry.
Pensive Harry looks all alone
April 2011
Weddings should bring families together, but I thought Harry cut a lonely figure when William and Kate got married at Westminster Abbey.
The bridal couple looked wonderful as they waved to the crowd standing five deep outside.
Harry on the other hand barely raised a smile, maybe wishing he had a partner of his own to share the carriage instead of a seven-year-old bridesmaid, in this case Lady Louise Windsor, daughter of Prince Edward.
Harry claimed he felt uncomfortable in his Blues and Royals uniform, adding ‘I’d never worn it before and hoped not to wear it again anytime soon’.
The bridal couple looked wonderful as they waved to the crowd standing five deep outside Westminster Abbey.
In his memoir, Spare, one of Harry’s many moans was that he didn’t feel comfortable in his Blues and Royals uniform, adding ‘I’d never worn it before and hoped not to wear it again anytime soon’.
The other reason he may have looked glum on the way back is that he realized this was the end of the life he had shared for so long with his elder brother.
They were now on separate paths.
When Kate was on Team Harry
June 2016
I’ve attended more than thirty royal processions into churches, abbeys and cathedrals over the years, and they’ve always been rigidly formal, funereal, even.
Yet this occasion stood out because of the happy banter between Harry and Kate.
I took this picture on June 10 in St Paul’s Cathedral.
It was obvious that Harry really wanted what William had – and was desperate for a wife like Kate.
The entire royal family were there for a thanksgiving service to mark Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday.
By then William and Kate had been married for five years and had two children and were living in a 20-room apartment in Kensington Palace.
In contrast, Harry had no family of his own, two failed relationships and was living in nearby Nottingham Cottage where the ceilings were so low, Harry kept banging his head on them.
It was obvious to me that he wanted what William had and was desperate for a wife, like Kate.
‘William and Harry: The Unseen Photos’ is available for streaming in the US on BBC Select
‘The Queen, 70 Chapters in the Life of Her Majesty’ by Ian Lloyd is published by The History Press
