Kate Middleton Gave Up on Mending Prince William and Prince Harry’s Fractured Relationship After Reaching 'Final Straw'

Kate Middleton stopped trying to repair the fractured relationship between Prince Harry and Prince William once the Duke of Sussex crossed the line.

According to an author, when Harry, 41, made comments about his father King Charles' cancer battle in a 2025 interview, the Princess of Wales, 44, finally hit her limit.

Royal expert Christopher Andersen claimed that prior to the interview, Kate "would not give up" on trying to fix the estranged brothers' bond.

"Even after Harry threw William under the bus in his memoir, Spare, she was willing to keep trying. And the final break came," he told Fox News on Wednesday, May 27.

Harry released his bombshell memoir in 2023 and detailed the issues he endured with the Prince of Wales, 43, throughout the decades. He even wrote about a physical fight they had in 2019.

"The final straw came really shortly after the king was diagnosed with cancer, when Harry [essentially] said, ‘I’d like to mend fences because we just don’t know how long [my father] has to live.’ Well, that kind of statement can be very hurtful to somebody who doesn’t really want to consider their own mortality and is battling cancer," Andersen continued.

Both Kate and Charles, 77, each announced they had a form of cancer in 2024. While the Duchess of Cambridge revealed she was in remission in January 2025, the monarch revealed earlier this year his treatments would be scaled back.

"It was hurtful to Kate as well, I believe," the Kate!: The Courage, Grace, and Power of the Woman Who Will Be Queen author continued. "And, of course, it just ignited this firestorm of speculation about how sick the king really was at this point. And Kate pretty much felt that would be it. She wasn’t going to try anymore."

"So she has not. And as a result, there has been no chance of any … As a matter of fact, I don’t think we’re ever going to see them make amends. At least it’s not on the horizon now," he said.

The Invictus Games founder and his wife, Meghan Markle, made the choice to step back as senior members of the royal family in January 2020. The couple later moved to Montecito, Calif., to raise their kids Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 4, away from the royal spotlight.

In a May 2025 interview with the BBC, Harry candidly opened up about wanting to make amends with his family.

"I would love reconciliation with my family," he admitted. "There’s no point in continuing to fight anymore. I don’t know how much longer my father has."

While he briefly met with his father in the U.K. last year, there has been no progress with William.