Prince Harry's place in Royal Family brutally dismissed during beach trip as a toddler - was this a sign of things to come?
Royal photographer Arthur Edwards claims a protection officer once made a blunt comment to Harry about his future
The Duke of Sussex divides opinion whenever he talks about his experience growing up in the Royal Family and his memoir Spare was particularly controversial. In it, he condemned the way he was allegedly treated as the "spare" to Prince William as "heir" and now royal photographer Arthur Edwards has suggested the difference between their places in the succession was made clear from very early on.
Ahead of the release of his new book, Cup of Tea, Arthur?, he sat down with The Telegraph and recalled a beach trip in Norfolk in 1986 when their nanny was "making a big fuss" of Prince William "as usual".
His two-year-old brother was then reportedly told by a protection officer, "Come here, Harry. I'll build you a sandcastle. It's the only bleeding castle you're ever likely to get."
Even though he was so young when this comment was supposedly made, this moment seems to indicate that from the beginning Prince Harry was very aware that he was the second son and what this meant. In his memoir, he stated his belief that he was "the shadow, the support, the Plan B" in case "something happened to Willy."
Everything he's said in recent years - and the title of the book itself - highlights how much this feeling has shaped Harry's life and his relationship with The Firm and its systems. His and Meghan's decision to step back as senior royals was the ultimate breakaway from this and maybe from the early days these seeds were already planted.
When the Sussexes did make that leap, the Princess of Wales also reportedly felt there was a certain amount of inevitability to it. Writing in William & Catherine, royal expert Russell Myers claimed, "Sources suggest Catherine had less interest than her husband in trying to persuade Harry to stay in his current role."
He went on, "She believed William and Harry's fundamental differences as 'heir and the spare' had created the inevitability of Harry wanting more from his role than being a bit-part player."
A former senior courtier also suggested to Myers that if you're born anything other than first like Prince William, you're "on a different path and it is almost impossible, barring family tragedy, to change those dynamics".
The personal dynamics between the King's sons remains a huge source of scrutiny too and although the Sussexes are back living in the UK, Harry and William aren't believed to have met face-to-face since the big move. Nevertheless, photographer Arthur Edwards is hopeful that things could be better for Harry in Britain.
"He might not be the knight in shining armour at the moment, but knowing him he'll bounce back. People have got short memories," he declared. "I think, hopefully, if he just stops writing books and Meghan stops making horrible jam, and they start working a bit for the family, I think things could change."
