Prince William's Final Attempt to Reach Prince Harry Involved a Secret Childhood Vow About Their Mother: Report

Prince Harry's latest revelation reveals a deepening rift with Prince William, stemming from a secret code they shared since childhood.

Prince William's most recent effort to reach Prince Harry is seen as a manoeuvre leveraging a vow they made about their late mother, Princess Diana. Prince Harry recalled a 2021 reunion with his older brother, who allegedly invoked a three-word secret code they used very sparingly, according to an Express report.

Detailing that conversation in 'Spare,' his memoir, Harry said he returned to the UK in 2021 for the late Prince Philip's funeral. William, who was also in attendance, allegedly took him aside at one point.

The Secret Code that 'Stopped Prince Harry Cold'

'Harold you must listen to me, I just want you to be happy, Harold, I swear, I swear on mummy's life,' he recalled William saying, noting that he had 'used the secret code, the universal password, ever since we were boys, those three words were to be used only in times of extreme crisis, "on mummy's life."'

Harry said they promised to use that 'three‑word secret code' only in moments of extreme crisis, or when either of them wanted to say something that needed to be heard.

'It stopped me cold, as it was meant to,' Prince Harry wrote. 'Not because he'd used it, but because it didn't work. I simply didn't believe him.' The encounter suggested a growing divide between the brothers, which allegedly started in 2016, when Prince William 'aired some concerns' over Harry's relationship with Meghan Markle.

Prince Harry Recalls William's Response to Meghan

'Some of the things that my brother and sister-in-law [Kate Middleton], some of the way that they were acting or behaving definitely felt to me as though, unfortunately, that stereotyping was causing a bit of a barrier to them really sort of, you know, introducing or welcoming her in,' Harry told ITV News' Tom Bradby.

Harry clarified that William 'never tried to dissuade' him from marrying Meghan. 'He aired some concerns, very early on and said, you know, this is gonna be really hard for you,' he said. 'And I still to this day, I don't truly understand which part of what he was talking about. But maybe, you know, maybe he predicted what the British press's reaction was gonna be.'

The brothers most recently met in August 2024 while attending a funeral for their uncle, Lord Robert Fellowes. They 'kept their distance' at the service and were not seen speaking, according to The Sun.

Prince Harry Sees the Same Sibling Rivalry in His Children

'The older-younger sort of sibling rivalry as such — now is only really becoming, uh, I guess real to me,' Harry told Bradby in the tell-all interview. He compared that rift to what he's now observing in his children, one-year-old Lili and three-year-old Archie.

'To see Lili obsessed with Archie and Archie like, no, no, Lily, I need my space. I need my space now. I get it. I get how irritating the younger sibling can be to the older sibling,' he said.

'But yes, I've always loved my brother,' he asserted. 'And I think what would be quite shocking or surprising to people is that after our mother died, we were on different paths. Right? Two individuals who experienced a very similar traumatic experience, but dealt with it in two very different ways.'