Is Prince William His Brother’s Keeper And Thus Responsible For His Bad Behavior?

In Battle of Brothers, royal writer Robert Lacey makes it clear that he thinks the reported rift between Prince Harry and Prince William had its genesis long before Meghan Markle came on the scene. In the latest excerpt from his book published in the Daily Mail, Lacey takes it one step further, intimating that William was his bother’s keeper and that he let him down. Was this the case? You be the judge based on Lacey’s evidence.

According to Lacey, when Harry joined William at Eton in 1998 they had become strongly bonded through the mutual pain of their chaotic childhood, the result of their parent’s divorce, and their mother’s death.

William and his friends welcomed Harry to their circle even though at 14 he was two years younger and they were already drinking and mildly drugging according to Lacey who also claims that Harry got the nickname “Hash Harry” while at school.

In 2000 and 2001 William was gone on his gap year and one of Charles’ aides thought it wise to give party boy Harry a scared straight moment at a rehab center where the residents spun tales of regret for the teen.

It was implied that William should get credit for helping to save Harry, even though he was the one who introduced him to substance misuse, allegedly.

Thus William came out smelling like the “King of the Castle,” and Harry labelled the, “dirty rascal.”

Should William Be Held Semi-Accountable For Harry’s Behavior?

Bolstering this image was the infamous 2005 costume party disaster in which Harry wore a shirt with a Nazi swastika on it. William was with him at the time and he picked out a much more appropriate costume for himself. A party guest snapped a pic of Harry and he was in the newspaper under the headline ‘Harry the Nazi.’

Lacey remarks that “The lad was naughty, not a Nazi. Most clearly of all, we know that Harry chose his costume in conjunction with his elder brother — the future King William V, then 22, who had laughed all the way back to Highgrove with the younger sibling he was supposed to be mentoring — and then onwards to the party together.”

And so surmises Lacey, it was William who was at fault for allowing his bother and mentee to pick a ghastly costume just as it was his fault for Harry’s alcohol use problem.

Is Lacey right? Is William his brother’s keeper, or does Harry alone shoulder the responsibility for his behavior? You be the judge.

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