Prince William feels “like a spare” and “overshadowed” by his brother, Prince Harry, and sister-in-law, Meghan Markle, after the couple’s Nigeria tour helps them into the spotlight.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s recent trip to Nigeria has left Prince William and King Charles “absolutely furious”, a royal expert claims.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle took a private royal-style trip to Nigeria, despite stepping back from official duties in 2020.
Royal expert Tom Quinn told the Mirror that the trip “confirmed Harry’s family’s worst fears,” leaving Prince William and King Charles “furious”.
“Everything you might expect from an official royal visit was there — the receptions, the visits to schools and charities, to wounded soldiers and the disabled,” Quinn said.
“Charles is said to be angrier than anyone has ever seen him.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex recently returned to California from a whirlwind 72-hour tour of Nigeria, where the couple promoted the Invictus Games and met with top leaders in the West African nation.
Meghan and Harry were played the British national anthem in the country, an honour typically reserved for royal trips, while Harry was also invited to inspect military troops despite being stripped of his own titles.
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Reports have emerged Harry and Meghan have since been wooed by top officials to travel to Accra, the capital of Ghana, for a similar unofficial visit.
Speak to the Mirror on Sunday, royal author Tom Quinn said Prince William now “sees his role as diminished” and was feeling “overshadowed by his brother and sister-in-law” who were capitalising on their freedom.
“It’s almost and if Harry is using his freedom, his outcast status, as a means to become a more prominent royal than he ever could have when he was just the spare,” Mr Quinn said.
The author said the Sussex’s “know they will be welcomed” as unofficial royals as country leaders “don’t care who is an official royal and who isn’t” so long as they “see a young, glamorous couple who have royal titles and fit the bill”.
“Harry and Meghan have realised they don’t need the senior Royals’ permission to organise successful overseas trips where they behave as if they are the real thing,” he said.
And he said they are “convinced they are on a roll” following what the couple claim was a “wildly successful tour of Nigeria”.
Prince William reportedly loathes his brother taking all the limelight. Picture: Toby Melville/WPA Pool/Getty Images
A helpless Prince William reportedly loathes his brother taking all the limelight.
“Back in Britain and powerless to compete or to prevent his brother taking centre stage, William sees his role diminished. And he hates it,” Mr Quinn said.
“He may even have started to feel a bit like a spare himself or at least that for the first time in his life he is being overshadowed by his brother and sister-in-law.”
In his bombshell memoir, Harry dubbed himself as the spare and his brother as the heir as he revealed the two nicknames were given to each brother by their father King Charles upon the Duke of Sussex’s birth.
“Wonderful! Now you’ve given me an heir and a spare – my work is done,” the King reportedly said to the late Princess Diana.
An insider told the Mirror newspaper this month Charles’s “ultimate” fear is the Sussexes will be seen by some in the Commonwealth as “more appealing” than actual working royals. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell – WPA Pool/Getty Images.
Reports have emerged the King is afraid Harry and Meghan’s “unofficial royal tours” may outshine real royal tours across the Commonwealth.
An insider told the Mirror newspaper this month Charles’s “ultimate” fear is the Sussexes will be seen by some in the Commonwealth as “more appealing” than actual working royals like Princess Anne and the Duchess of Edinburgh.
“The ultimate fear for King Charles and William is that Meghan’s rebelliousness actually ends up making her more appealing than the understated members of official team royal,” the source said.
Determined to remain in the spotlight, Harry and Meghna could be set to accept the invitation to Ghana without the permission or guidance of the British Home Office.
Harry and Meghan no longer represent the monarchy abroad and it is understood they accepted the Nigeria trip after meeting Nigerian officials in Germany last year.
The couple also visited Jamaica – which does still count King Charles as head of state – earlier this year.