A royal expert has claimed that when it comes to making a major move toward his brother Prince Harry, that Prince William has ‘no room in his heart’ for reconciliation

When Prince Harry entered a new decade of his life upon his 40th birthday, royal fans were shocked to see his brother Prince William and sister-in-law Princess Kate send him well wishes on social media – after years of the brothers enduring a pretty strained relationship.

The major olive branch followed King Charles sending his youngest son a birthday message on the Royal Family’s official social media accounts but one royal expert has claimed that the public shouldn’t expect the somewhat icy relations between the two brothers to thaw entirely just yet, even if the birthday post was a step in the right direction.

Prince Harry in particular has been candid about the difficulties in his relationship with his elder brother Prince William, and their relationship was explored extensively in Harry’s bestselling memoir Spare. Equally, in a series of interviews Harry has given since stepping back as a working royal, he has made some bombshell claims against his brother and other senior royals, opening up about some of the reasons why he felt he had to move his family to California and leave life inside the monarchy behind.

In Spare, Harry traced some of the issues between him and his brother all the way back to their childhoods and explored how in his view, their different roles and destinies within the House of Windsor had such a big impact: with his own role as the second son, a foil to William as the heir, creating competitiveness between them from a young age.

For his part, William has reportedly said when Harry and Meghan announced they were stepping back as working royals – according to the Sunday Times – “I’ve put my arm around my brother all our lives and I can’t do that anymore; we’re separate entities. I’m sad about that”. The last few years have seen the brothers rarely come together, and only attend a handful of major events – like their grandparent’s funerals and King Charles’s coronation – together. The birthday message therefore came as a surprise to many, but one royal expert has claimed that despite the fact it is for many royal fans a welcome step in the right direction, they shouldn’t expect the brothers to fully set aside their differences any time soon.

“I still think things are too sensitive for a meaningful reconciliation with William, but the fact that he and Catherine authorised the greeting to be posted is definitely an unexpected turn of events. I don’t think we should hold our breath for the step to really signal the start of a reconciliation, but it was an unexpected turn of events,” explained Jennie Bond – formerly the BBC’s royal correspondent – to OK magazine.

However, Bond noted that in her opinion, Kate’s recent health challenges were likely to have informed the move, and pointed out that the future Queen’s comments in a recent video released to announce the end of her chemotherapy included some about how her experiences had helped shift her perspectives. “William has so much on his plate at the moment that I don’t think he has room in his heart or head to deal with all that has gone on with Harry,” the expert added. “While the brothers may never be close again, or even live on the same continent, it doesn’t mean that the future has to be full of bitterness and bad blood. Catherine is right. Family should always be paramount.”