PRINCE Harry sent an “olive branch” to his brother William and Princess Kate while in the UK, an insider has said.
Harry spent two days in London this week and sensationally claimed his police protection had been downgraded to “trap” him inside the Royal Family.
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During his bitter High Court battle to win back taxpayer-funded UK security, the Duke of Sussex stayed at Coworth Park hotel in Ascot, Berkshire.
The luxury five-star hotel is less than a 20 minute-drive away from Adelaide Cottage where the Prince and Princess of Wales reside.
The duke, 40, did not meet up with the pair but close business friends of Harry claimed he stayed nearby to extend “an olive branch”.
A source told The Express: “His accommodation decision, which was relayed to Wills and Kate through security services, was seen as a potential olive branch to make peace after so many years estranged.”
“Harry really is keen to try to salvage some kind of relationship or even reopen dialogue,” they added.
“They have not had any full-length conversations or discussions since they had some time together around the Queen’s passing.”
Meanwhile insiders told PEOPLE Harry’s attempts to reconnect with his brother William through calls, texts and messages have been ignored.
It comes after Harry was slammed by an ex-Scotland Yard boss for talking “complete nonsense”.
He claimed his police protection was removed as part of a shadowy plot to trap him in the Royal Family.
In his latest extraordinary attack, Harry is said to have seen secret evidence which confirmed his “worst fears” about the decision.
He is attempting to sue the Home Office because it refused to spend taxpayers’ money on bodyguards after he left the Royal Family.
A two-day hearing this week sat partly in private to hear confidential evidence.
The 40-year-old duke was said to be unhappy with what he heard.
As he left the Royal Courts of Justice, Harry told The Telegraph “people would be shocked by what’s being held back”.
How the Royal drama gripped UK and beyond
JAN 8, 2020: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex announce they are to “step back as senior members” of the Royal Family and divide their time between the UK and North America.
JAN 18: Buckingham Palace announces an agreement has been reached for Harry “to step back from royal duties, including official military appointments”.
JAN 20: The Palace announces Harry and Meghan will no longer use their HRH titles and will not receive public funds for royal duties. The couple say they intend to repay £2.4million of taxpayer money for the refurbishment of Frogmore Cottage, which will remain their UK family home.
MAR 3: Harry and the Queen meet for a four-hour conversation about Megxit.
MAR 9: Meghan and Harry attend the Commonwealth Day service – alongside William and Kate –their final royal event before giving up royal duties.
MAR 27: The couple move to Los Angeles after a brief stay in Canada.
JUNE: They buy an £11million mansion in Montecito, California.
SEPT: Netflix announces a huge $100million deal with the couple.
NOV: In an article in the New York Times, Meghan reveals she suffered a miscarriage four months earlier.
MAR 7, 2021: The couple give a US TV interview with Oprah Winfrey, in which the Duchess reveals her suicidal thoughts and accuses a member of the Royal Family of racism.
MAR 8: The Palace responds, saying the race issues raised are “concerning” and “while some recollections may vary” the matters will be “taken very seriously”.
APR 17: Harry attends the funeral of his grandfather the Duke of Edinburgh.
JUNE 4: Daughter Lilibet is born in a hospital in Santa Barbara, California.
JULY 1: Harry and William unite to unveil a statue of Diana at Kensington Palace.
JUNE 2022: The brothers come together for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, and again two months later for her funeral. The state occasion is Meghan’s final visit to the UK.
DEC: Netflix series Harry & Meghan airs. The Duke says in one episode it had been “terrifying” to have his brother “scream and shout” at him about their future.
JAN 8, 2023: Harry is interviewed by ITV to publicise his controversial book Spare – published two days later – claiming it was “Meghan versus Kate”.
APR: Harry has a “heart-to-heart” talk with dad Charles before agreeing to attend the King’s Coronation in London.
MAY 6: Arriving alone for the ceremony, he sits two rows behind his brother and leaves soon after the service.
JUNE: Harry becomes the first senior royal in more than 130 years to give evidence in court, when he appears at the High Court for his case against Mirror Group Newspapers.
JULY: Streaming giant Spotify announces it is parting ways with the Suss-exes’ Archewell Audio brand, above, in a “mutual decision”.
SEPT: Harry rejects an offer to spend the anniversary of the Queen’s death with his father at Balmoral.
FEB 2024: Harry flies to the UK to be with his father. They meet for half an hour before Harry flies home. He does not meet William.
MAR: Meghan launches lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard, which posts just nine times on Instagram.
APR: A judge brands Harry’s legal appeal for taxpayer-funded security following his move abroad “frankly hopeless”.
MAY: Harry pays a brief visit to London for an event held two miles from where Charles was staying. They do not meet.
JAN 1, 2025: Meghan relaunches her Instagram account with a video shot by Harry on a beach near their US home.
MAR: Meghan releases her Netflix show With Love, Meghan and launches As Ever
APR: Harry flies back to the UK for his security battle appeal and appears at London High Court – but fails to meet with his father.
He added that his “worst fears have been confirmed by the whole legal disclosure in this case and that’s really sad”.
Harry suggested the decision was an attempt to prevent him and his wife Meghan Markle from quitting as working royals and moving abroad.
Buckingham Palace sources have strongly denied this claim.
Harry said: “We were trying to create this happy house.”
Now the former head of Scotland Yard’s Royal Protection has said Harry was “talking complete nonsense”.
Dai Davies told The Mail on Sunday Harry and Meghan’s “security arrangements in the UK are considered on a case-by-case basis”.
He said: “He is given a liaison officer who has access to the most up to date intelligence reports.
“The idea that he needs 24/7 armed protection is ridiculous – so too is the idea that Britain is unsafe for him.
“This new argument that he is advancing is frankly bizarre. It was a Ravec decision, pure and simple – nothing to do with the Royal Family.”
Harry’s family feud
Princes William and Harry have not been in direct communication since the release of Harry’s controversial memoir, Spare, in January 2023.
Their last reported interaction was during the funeral of their grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, in September 2022, but conversations were said to be brief.
The feuding brothers reportedly did not speak to each other despite standing “virtually back to back” among mourners at their uncle’s memorial service last August.
The Duke of Sussex and his brother did not exchange a word at the memorial in Snettisham, Norfolk – and Harry stayed at Althorp during the UK stay.
One mourner said: “They were only five yards from each other.”
The brothers have been at loggerheads since Harry and wife Meghan quit royal duty in 2020 for a new life in the US, where they have launched a succession of barbs at the Royal Family.
What level of security protection are working royals entitled to?
A HANDFUL of working members of the Royal Family have 24/7 protection – but others are assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Senior officers are assigned to specific members of the household and are supported by others, one expert told The Sun.
He claimed there will always be a minimum of one protection officer with a member of the Royal Family, but the protection team is increased according to threat and risk.
King Charles, Queen Camilla and the Wales’ family have round-the-clock protection and the monarch also has a corridor officer based outside his bedroom door, the expert said.
The likes of Princess Anne, Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex are given protection when they are taking part in official engagements – but do not have taxpayer-funded security at their homes.
Prince Andrew had his taxpayer-funded security removed following the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
His daughters Princess Beatrice and Prince Eugenie are said to not have funded security as they are not full-time working royals – and are employed elsewhere.
Robert Jobson, an award-winning royal author, explained: “According to a 1917 Letters of Patent issued by King George V, the title of HRH Prince or Princess is passed to ‘The grandchildren of the sons of any such sovereign in the direct male line (save only the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales) shall have and enjoy in all occasions the style and title enjoyed by the children of dukes of this realm.’
“Both Harry and Meghan know this. Archie, on the other hand, did not qualify to become a prince automatically.
“In 2012, Queen Elizabeth II issued a Letters Patent to expand on a previous decree that granted such a title only to the eldest son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales.”
