While Prince William and Prince Harry are currently estranged, the royal brothers once had an incredibly strong bond.

However, back when they were children, there was something that William didn’t enjoy when it came to his younger brother. Writing in his memoir, Spare, Harry revealed that William “loathed” it when their late mother, Princess Diana, would dress them in matching outfits.

Whether it was their school uniforms, khaki clothing, or even outfits worn on royal tours with their parents, the brothers were often seen wearing the same adorable outfits.

This sometimes even extended to their footwear, with the little princes sometimes being seen in the same black shoes, including a pair of T-bar Mary Janes.

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In a passage, Harry explained: “Willy always hated it when anyone made the mistake of thinking us a package deal. He loathed it when Mummy dressed us in the same outfits. (It didn’t help that her taste in children’s clothes ran to the extreme; we often looked like the twins from Alice in Wonderland.) I barely took notice.

“I didn’t care about clothes, mine or anyone else’s. So long as we weren’t wearing kilts, with that worrisome knife in your sock and that breeze up your [expletive], I was good.”

Revealing how this might have affected the Prince of Wales during their mutual time at Eton College, Harry added: “For Willy it was pure agony to wear the same blazer, the same tight shorts, as me. And now, to attend the same school, was pure murder.”

Status of Prince William and Prince Harry’s relationship

The Duke of Sussex has been estranged from the royal family for several years now,  but has recently made steps towards reconciling with his father, King Charles.

In 2024, Harry returned to see his father after the monarch revealed that he had cancer, and the pair held a 50-minute private meeting at Clarence House last year. When Harry was recently in the UK, Charles and Queen Camilla hosted the royal at Highgrove House, alongside Harry’s wife, Meghan Markle, and their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

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However,relations between Harry and the Prince of Wales are still incredibly strained. The warring brothers were last seen together publicly at their father’s coronation in May 2023.

Despite taking part in the same procession, they were seated separately inside Westminster Abbey; the Duke of Sussex sat two rows behind his brother, alongside his cousins Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.

The pair didn’t even make eye contact during the service, and while most of the royal family headed to Buckingham Palace following the coronation, Harry hopped on a plane to return to his California-based family, missing out on spending time with William.

When they reunited the following year at the funeral of their uncle, Lord Robert Fellowes, they also reportedly remained apart.

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The siblings have been on difficult terms since Harry and Meghan made the decision to step down as working royals in early 2020 and move to the United States.

The rift escalated after Harry and Meghan aired private family grievances in a series of public interviews, their tell-all Netflix documentary and Harry’s bombshell memoir, Spare, which exposed the inner workings of the royal family.

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Harry credits their falling out to his long-standing feeling of being the royal “spare” while William was raised to prepare to ascend to the throne and abide by strict royal protocol.