Meghan Markle and Prince Harry shocked the world by announcing they were stepping back as senior royals in early 2020. They have since relocated to the United States, where they live with their two children, son Archie and daughter Lilibet. Although they retained their HRH titles, they would no longer receive financial support from the palace or undertake any royal duties as representatives of the monarch. Their sharp criticism of the royal family’s culture in the now infamous Oprah Winfrey interview of 2021 was met with some opprobrium around the world, but the couple also found a lot of support.

Since relocating to Montecito in Santa Barbara, California, the Sussexes have been busy setting up their own brand, Archewell. Meghan began hosting a podcast called “Archetypes” that “dives into the labels that try to hold women back,” while Harry has been working on his memoir, entitled “Spare,” described as being “full of insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief.”

The couple also embarked on a journey to document their lives since their departure from the grand halls of Buckingham Palace in the Netflix series “Harry & Meghan.” The show chronicles the pair’s progression from the “secret, early days of their unexpected romance” to marriage in May 2018, as well as their experiences under intense public scrutiny. It also delves into their relationships with members of the royal family and the impact and strains the institution has put on their life together.

The show also depicted the challenges the duo grappled with, including Meghan’s struggle to adjust to royal protocols and the media circus, as well as Harry’s efforts to protect his new family and the strain it has put on his relationships, even with his brother, to whom he was once so close.

Prince William and Prince Harry have been unable to escape constant comparisons. Having lived their entire lives in the public eye, the brothers have sought comfort in knowing they were both largely going through many of the same experiences. This has made them close, particularly in their youth. However, as the two have grown and started their own families, many say they are drifting apart.

Only two years separate William, who was born on June 21, 1982, and Harry, who was born on Sept. 15, 1984. Their mother was Diana, Princess of Wales, the first wife of King Charles III. Known as the “People’s Princess,” Diana was well-loved by many as an individual and as a mother, too. Princess Diana was a doting mother to her two children and cared for them dearly.

In a May 2022 interview on OK! Magazine, the late Princess Diana’s former butler, Paul Burell, shared his thoughts on what William and Harry’s mother would have felt about them drifting apart.

“She’d be heartbroken. It wouldn’t have got as bad as this if she was still here. She’d have banged their heads together. She’s probably the only person that could have done that. If Diana had been here (the rift) would never have happened,” Burell said.

Burell added it’s hard to believe William and Harry would grow to be so different because of their tight-knit relationship when they were younger.

“I cannot get my head around it. I saw those boys grow up and they were tighter than you can possibly believe. They referred to each other about everything. When Diana died I thought they would be inseparable,” he added.

Now, Harry’s Netflix documentary offered explosive insight into the explosive fallout from his and Meghan’s decision to make their exit from the royal family.

In early 2020, the fallout from Harry and Meghan’s decision to step back from their royal duties threw the palace into turmoil. In Episode Five of “Harry & Meghan,” Harry recounted the turmoil of those days. He said he had wanted to gather the senior royals, including his father, brother, grandmother and wife, together for a meeting to discuss the situation but was rejected. Harry said it was only after Meghan had left the country that an emergency meeting was called between him, William, Charles and the Queen in Sandringham. Harry said it was then that the family showed him how they truly felt.

“It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me, and my father say things that just simply weren’t true, and my grandmother quietly sit there and take it all in,” he recalled.

“But you have to understand that from the family’s perspectives, especially from (Elizabeth’s), there are ways of doing things. And her ultimate mission and goal, responsibility, is the institution… she’s going to go on the advice that she’s given,” Harry continued, adding that the “saddest part” was the “wedge created between myself and my brother.”

“Part of that I get – that’s his inheritance and, to some extent, it’s already ingrained in him that part of his responsibility is the survivability and the continuation of the institution.”

However, Harry said he felt his and Meghan’s exit “was a fight worth fighting for,” even if it came at the expense of his relationship with William and Charles.

“I’ve had to make peace with the fact that we’re probably never going to get genuine accountability or a genuine apology,” he said. “My wife and I are moving on, we’re focused on what’s coming next.”