Former royal butler Grant Harrold - who started work at King Charles's county home, Highgrove House, in 2004 - was privy to a special moment in royal history. He was there for the early years of the Prince and Princess of Wales's relationship as it blossomed, working with the Royal Family right up until the year of their wedding.
This means he also got to see Prince Harry and Kate form a close friendship and in his upcoming book, The Royal Butler: My Remarkable Life of Royal Service, Grant shed a little light on their brother-in-law/sister-in-law bond.
As per The Telegraph, who have serialized sections of the memoir, the former royal butler claimed, "They involved him. He used to go out with Kate. William would be away and Kate and Harry would be off doing stuff together."
As for what they’d get up to? Well, it was surprisingly relatable. The former butler claimed, "They’d go shopping together, they’d go to pubs together. I think when people say 'oh he was left out', he really wasn’t."
Grant also recalls how Prince Harry’s own love life fit in the picture, adding, "He was with Chelsy [Davy]. Chelsy was always around. And Chelsy and Kate got on really well."
Reflecting upon these suggestions, woman&home's Royal Editor, Emma Shacklock, believes they perfectly sum up Prince Harry and the Princess of Wales's bond at this time in their lives.
"They were often pictured laughing and smiling together and this sense of warmth came shining through," she says. "In another sign of his admiration for Kate and whole-hearted support for her and Prince William's relationship, Prince Harry even gave his late mother's engagement ring to his brother to propose with."
In his own memoir, Spare, Prince Harry recalled his bond with Kate and his impression of her after she started going out with his older brother.
"I liked his new girlfriend," he wrote in the book. "She was carefree, sweet, kind. She’d done a gap year in Florence, knew about photography, art. And clothes. She loved clothes. Her name was Kate."
Later in the book, Prince Harry shared how he felt after the royal wedding, writing, "I loved my new sister-in-law, I felt she was more sister than in-law, the sister I'd never had and always wanted, and I was pleased that she’d forever be standing by Willy’s side. She was a good match for my older brother."
"But in my gut I couldn’t help feeling that this was yet another farewell under this horrid roof. Another sundering. The brother I'd escorted into Westminster Abbey that morning was gone - forever," he added.
Reflecting on the Duke of Sussex’s relationship with Prince William as it used to be, the former royal butler insists that the brothers were "so close".
He alleged in his book, "The banter was great. They used to go around being silly with each other and winding each other up, jumping out at their dad from corners and making him laugh."
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