King Charles’s deepening rift with Prince William has sent shockwaves through palace walls, and Princess Kate has been forced to step into the crossfire.
New Idea understands that Charles and William are now meeting as little as once a month, prompting Kate to take a firm stance in a desperate bid to reunite father and son before it’s too late.
“It used to be the horrible state of things between William and his brother that kept her up at night worrying, but now she’s even more distressed by the growing animosity between William and his father,” an insider exclusively tells us.
“It’s become one of the main topics of conversation around the palace, and everyone can see the divide widening.”
Caught between her husband and her father-in-law, whom she holds dear, the Princess of Wales is navigating an impossible tightrope.
With concerns persisting over Charles’s health following his cancer battle, Kate is urging William not to let lingering bitterness over Prince Harry poison his relationship with the King.
“Of course, Kate isn’t going to disrespect or undermine William, but at the same time, Charles is her father-in-law, whom she loves dearly,” our royal source explains.
“Given the fragility of his health, she worries about him too. She keeps encouraging William to go easy on him.”
“She understands why he’s frustrated by the decisions his father has made when it comes to Harry and Meghan, and even Andrew, but she doesn’t believe his anger is helping the situation.”
Known as the royal family’s ultimate peacemaker, Kate’s efforts to mediate have hit a heartbreaking wall.
“She’s such a peacemaker by nature so her first instinct was to try and intervene but it’s not helped and she’s reached the point where she has had to accept that this isn’t something she can fix,” our insider adds.
“Being caught in the middle has become emotionally exhausting, and the fact is things have gotten so explosive that anything she does risks making things worse.”
“All she can do now is hope they eventually find their own way back to each other.”
Charles and William’s relationship has deteriorated to a point where they only meet to discuss official state affairs.
“It’s bad. Never has there been such an estrangement between monarch and heir, but it’s also proof that William has the same stubborn streak as his father,” another source tells us.
They were last photographed together on July 1 in Edinburgh, at the Thistle Service at St Giles’ Cathedral. Before that, it was at the Trooping of the Colour in June, and prior at the Easter Service at St George’s Chapel in April.
William is said to be infuriated because of the allowances Charles has made for Harry and Meghan, while he’s long been pushing for a stricter stance towards the disgraced Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
“William does not trust Harry and Meghan one bit, but Charles won’t be dissuaded from welcoming them,” our expert adds.
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