Princes William and Harry's reactions to old home-movie footage of their father, King Charles III, have gone viral after clips from a royal documentary resurfaced on the social-media site TikTok.
The documentary was filmed in 2016, to mark Queen Elizabeth II's 90th birthday. William and Harry sat down together at Kensington Palace in London to review footage from the royals' private film archive, showing clips dating from the 1920s to the present day.
William and Harry's relationships with each other and their father have been pulled into public focus in recent years. The interest came after Harry split from the monarchy in 2020 with wife Meghan Markle and moved to the U.S. Since the move, the prince has opened up to give an unprecedented level of access to life behind palace walls, through interviews, documentaries and a bestselling memoir.
In May 2023, the strain in Harry's relationships with his father and brother was made clear during the king's May coronation service at Westminster Abbey in the English capital. Harry traveled to London without Meghan for the ceremony, being seated two rows behind his older brother with other non-working members of the royal family.
Uploaded to TikTok by user @royaltyfamily99 on November 21, clips of William and Harry from before the widening of their initial family rift shows the brothers viewing footage of Charles as a small child. The future king is seen walking in the gardens of Royal Lodge, a property near Windsor Castle, Berkshire, England. It was formerly the home of his grandmother Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
"Another fashion statement by pa," Harry says in the clip, which formed part of the Elizabeth at 90: A Family Tribute documentary.
"He walks like George, or George walks like him," William said, in comparison with his son, Prince George, who was 3 years old at the time.
"We've probably chased each other around that garden a few times as well," the prince said, with Harry adding: "Yeah, but not for a while."
The video clip has been viewed over 133,000 times on the platform so far and received more than 7,500 likes and numerous comments, many of which have praised the royals.
"Prince Harry sounds like King Charles....deep voice," wrote one TikTok user.
"This is so cute," posted another, with a further comment reading: "I wish they were this close again."
William and Harry have not been photographed interacting with one another in public since the state funeral events connected with the death of their grandmother Queen Elizabeth in September 2022.
The brothers, together with their wives, shocked royal watchers by making their first appearance as a foursome since 2020 on September 10, 2022, two days after the queen's death, to view floral tributes left outside Windsor Castle.
The four royals were also present at the lying-in-state ceremony four days later, and the funeral and committal ceremony five days after that.
Meghan Markle has not made a public return to Britain since the funeral. Harry visited London in March to attend a hearing connected with a tabloid lawsuit; in May for the coronation; in June, again for a lawsuit hearing; and in September for a charity event.
Harry reportedly did not meet up with his brother privately on those occasions.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
