Why Kate Middleton's 'united family' made the royal rift between William and Harry 'hard to understand'

Kate Middleton's 'united family' caused her to struggle to come to terms with Prince Harry's falling out with his father and brother, say experts.

• After stepping down as senior royals in 2021, reports have suggested that there has been a rift between Prince Harry and the rest of the Royal Family.
• Royal experts have now weighed in and revealed how the Princess of Wales has reacted to the latest friction between the Sussexes and the rest of the Royal Family.
• In other royal news, Kate Middleton shares rare insight into Prince Louis's school life in utterly adorable moment during latest special engagement

Jennie Bond told OK! Magazine that Catherine's close-knit relationship with her parents and siblings is possibly a factor that has made this royal fallout so tricky for her. "When you come from a happy, united family – as Catherine does – it’s incredibly hard to understand how people can become estranged," said Jennie.

She added that the Prince of Wales and Duke of Sussex had another falling out at the Queen's funeral, leading Kate to accept that the rift would not be resolved anytime soon. "I think she believed the rift could be fixed and, after Prince Philip’s funeral, we saw her talking with Harry and obviously encouraging William to do the same. But we now know that it didn’t work. In fact, William and Harry had a blazing row right after the funeral. There comes a point when you just have to accept that happy families are not a game that everyone can play," she said.

Jennie concluded that for the time being, the Prince and Princess of Wales are getting 'on with their lives' and have accepted that for the present moment, they don't have a relationship with the Sussexes. 

"Catherine has been hurt and insulted by things that Harry and Meghan have said, but she and William are a very strong team, and I suspect that, together, they’ve come to the conclusion that the rift with Harry cannot be fixed in the foreseeable future. They’ve closed their minds to that possibility and decided to get on with their lives," she concluded.

Jennie's thoughts about Catheirne's reaction to this royal rift have been echoed by other royal experts. Shannon Felton Spence told Fox News Digital that while she doesn't think that the Sussexes and Waleses will always have a rift, they have put their relationship 'on ice'.

"She [Catherine] cares deeply about Harry and about family in general. They are all hurt, but she knows they are family," said Shannon. "No one has closed their mind to reconciliation, they’ve just put it on ice."

She added that the families are still giving each other 'space' and there is still a great deal of hurt between the parties."It seems like everyone has quit pushing, and they are just all giving the rift some space. I don’t think you can measure these things. They were a unit that has split into two conflicting camps. Everyone is hurt. Everyone has hurt everyone," said Shannon.