The Duke and Duchess of Sussex surprised Kate Middleton with “thoughtful” gifts for her 39th birthday last weekend, sources said.
Prince Harry, 36, and Meghan Markle, 39, are currently residing in their $ 14 million Santa Barbara mansion with their one-year-old son Archie, who resigned from service in March last year.
The Duchess of Cambridge, who currently lives in her Norfolk residence in Anmer Hall with Prince William, 38, and her children, Prince George, seven, Princess Charlotte, five, and Prince Louis, two, have had a “low-key” celebration for his 39th birthday on Saturday.
A source told the American weekly that the Duchess had received a card and gifts from Sussex, saying: ‘It was a good surprise. Kate expected nothing from the couple.
The Duke, 36, and the Duchess of Sussex, 39, surprised Kate Middleton with “thoughtful” gifts for her 39th birthday last weekend, sources said.
Meanwhile, they also claimed that Prince William gave his wife a set of diamond and sapphire earrings amid a “shower of gifts”.
This comes after royal expert Katie Nicholl told Entertainment Tonight that families enjoyed ‘phone and video calls’ over Christmas and New Year, where they gave each other gifts.
She said: ‘Moving on today, the relationship is much better than before. To begin with, they are communicating, and not just talking, they speak relatively regularly. They kept in touch a lot during the holidays.
However, she suggested that the relationship between the brothers could never recover from the close bond they enjoyed in the past.
A source said the Duchess of Cambridge was “not expecting anything” from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
Katie said there was an ‘ocean’ between the two families, adding that the brothers are ‘on different paths’.
She added that Meghan and Harry ‘are trying’ to have another child because they ‘would love to have a brother for Archie’.
His comments came after a royal biographer stated that the “long-term solution” to the conflict between Prince Harry and Prince William is for Sussex to “enjoy America’s freedom” while Cambridges dedicate their lives to duty. .
Speaking to Elle.com, royal biographer Robert Lacey said he thinks “there will be some kind of reconciliation” between the Duke of Sussex and the Duke of Cambridge this year.
The couples were last seen together in public at the Community Day service in March this year
But he said his brother’s relationship ‘will never be the same again’, explaining: ‘I hope this is the long-term solution here: duty in the form of William and Kate will take over the situation, and Harry and his love will enjoy the America’s freedom and, I hope, there will obviously be some kind of reconciliation. ‘
Robert said his brother’s long ‘history and texture’ would always be there, suggesting that they both ‘took something different’ from their parents’ marriage breakdown.
The royal expert explained that the Duke of Cambridge had found ‘strength’ in his duty, saying: ‘At least he had this duty, this responsibility to be king, the future monarch, and he had to do that.’
Meanwhile, he said that Prince Harry ‘took a different lesson’ from the relationship, adding that the duke would ‘fall in love … without remorse’.
This is after a royal expert said that the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex “reconnected” over the holidays and are now “talking regularly” via video call
He added: ‘His parents were imprisoned in an arranged and loveless marriage, and he will not make that mistake.’
The trigger that caused the breakup between William and Harry is believed to be when the Duke of Cambridge advised his younger brother to ‘take it slow’ when he started dating Meghan Markle in 2017.
The relations went so sour that they were not supposed to speak for weeks after Harry’s wedding, where William was the best man. So Megxit, and the way she was treated, left William and Charles devastated.
In a documentary in 2019 – Harry & Meghan: an African journey – the Duke of Sussex admitted that he and William are “certainly on different paths at the moment”.
He told Tom Bradby of ITV: ‘Inevitably, things happen. But we are brothers, we will always be brothers. ‘
There is hope that the inauguration of the new Princess Diana statue at Kensington Palace this summer “will help heal old wounds” for the brothers.
A statement on behalf of the Duke of Sussex and the Duke of Cambridge issued by the Kensington Palace in August said: ‘The statue that Prince William and Prince Harry commissioned to honor their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, will be installed next year what would have been his 60th birthday. ‘
The statue was commissioned to mark the 20th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death and recognize its positive impact in the UK and around the world.
Earlier this month, royal expert Angela Levin said that while Prince Harry ‘refused to be’ the spare ‘of Prince William, he seems to accept being second after Meghan’
Earlier this month, royal biographer Angela Levin said that Prince Harry ‘discarded life as a man of action to become a benefactor of the air fairies’ with an ‘awakened life on the West Coast’.
Royal expert Angela, who wrote Harry: Conversations with the Prince in 2018, said the duke had become a ‘shadow of his former self’ since moving to California.
Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, she said that while Prince Harry ‘refused to be’ the spare ‘of Prince William, he seems to accept being second after Meghan’.
The biographer said that Prince Harry’s recent appearances were “unusual” by the royalty she knew, who would instantly identify with everyone he spoke to.