Archive footage of Prince William and Prince Harry sharing candy on Easter Sunday with their mother Princess Diana has been widely shared on social media amid the brothers’ ongoing rift.
The princes’ relationship became the subject of increased public focus in recent months as Harry confirmed reports of a falling out in his six-part Netflix docuseries released in December 2022, and his 410-page memoir published in January.
The footage, shared to TikTok by user l0velycatherine on Tuesday, was captured in 1992 as members of the royal family gathered at Windsor Castle to attend the annual Easter Sunday church service at St George’s Chapel.
A 9-year-old William and 7-year-old Harry are seen greeting members of the public who had gathered inside the walls of the castle to watch the royals arrive and depart from the chapel. Many well wishers brought candy for the princes and in the footage, Harry swaps the treat he was given with his older brother.
The clip has been viewed nearly 100,000 times in less than 24 hours and received in excess of 10,000 likes and numerous comments, many of which reference the development in the brothers’ relationship in public.
@l0velycatherineLiterally me n my sibling |#princewilliam#princeharry#princessdiana#fyp♬ original sound – Love William & Catherine x
“Hahaha harry is like can we switch,” wrote one TikTok user, with another adding: “LOVE IT SO CUTEEEEEEEE.”
A further comment read: “William [has] always been kind to his brother.”
This narrative was disputed in January by Harry who revealed in an interview promoting his memoir that he wanted to correct the view that he and William had always shared a close bond.
When asked by Anderson Cooper for 60 Minutes about a number of stories in his memoir that could be seen as hurtful to his brother, Harry said he included them to dispel the idea that Meghan Markle had broken the brothers up, when in reality they were never close.
“I don’t see it as cutting at all,” he said. “You know, my brother and I love each other. I love him deeply. There has been a lot of pain between the two of us, especially the last six years. None of anything I’ve written, anything that I’ve included is ever intended to hurt my family. But it does give a full picture of the situation as we were growing up, and also squashes this idea that somehow my wife was the one that destroyed the relationship between these two brothers.”
In his book Spare, Harry made a number of observations and revelations about William, who he described as his “mortal enemy.”
Recounting an argument from 2019 over Meghan Markle’s treatment of palace staff, Harry alleged that William assaulted him, writing: “He set down the water, called me another name, then came at me. It all happened so fast. So very fast. He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. I landed on the dogs’ bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me. I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out.”
Despite their difficult past, Harry told Cooper that he hoped one day that the brothers could reach a new stage in their relationship. “I look forward to us being able to find peace,” he said.
For his part, William has not publicly responded to Harry’s comments about him or his wife, Kate Middleton, who also featured in the prince’s book and Netflix show.
The brothers both attended the coronation of their father King Charles III in May, however they were not seated together at Westminster Abbey and there was no public interaction between the pair.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek’s royal reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek’s The Royals Facebook page.
