Princess Diana’s former butler has mused whether William’s growing up of sausages for breakfast played a role in their fractious relationship growing up.
Paul Burrell claims the Duke of Sussex was confused and complained when he was young that his older brother got a bigger breakfast.
The 64-year-old claims after the young prince asked why that was, one of the couple’s nanny told him the now-Prince of Wales needed “more tanking” as he would “one day be king”.
Mr Burrell, who was butler to the Princess of Wales for 10 years, said it may have been an early depiction of the dynamic between the two feuding siblings, which dominates today.
Prince William (right) with Prince Harry (left) on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during the RAF’s centenary in 2018
Paul Burrell, Princess Diana’s former butler, pictured here on Good Morning Britain in 2022
Mr Burrell, who was present during William and Harry’s childhood years, said there were signs of early rivalry between the princes.
“Looking back now, I think maybe I got a glimpse of the dynamic,” he told The Sun.
“Once I saw the nanny give William three sausages for breakfast and Harry two.
“And Harry would look down at his plate and say how come he got three? And I only get two.’
Mr Burrell added that the now Duke of Sussex would “go quiet and suck it up” if the nanny answered the pecking order between the two brothers.
The former member of the royal household said that although Diana saw the boys as “absolutely equal”, he believes the hierarchy within the company, which puts William first, provoked resentment from Harry.
He said the Duke “found it difficult to live up to the standard set by William” and that this became even more blatant when he went to Eton against his mother’s wishes.
Mr Burrell said Diana felt that Harry would be unfairly compared to his older brother if he went to the independent school and that turned out to be the case.
The father-of-two said that William was “smarter” than his younger brother and that while the future king was “measured and stoic”, Harry played the clown to attract attention.
Adding that he no longer recognizes the Harry in public life from the boy he saw growing up in the royal household, he said: “He’s clearly hurt and angry at being ‘the replacement’ and so he hits a place on it.’
Harry, pictured here during an interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby earlier this month, was showing early signs he was unhappy with his position, says Paul Burrell
Paul Burrell, pictured here with Diana in 1997, served as the Princess of Wales’ butler for ten years
Meanwhile, Mr Burrell claimed that the relationship between the Fab Four – the Sussexes and the Cambridges – soured over “house envy”.
He claimed that Meghan, who was then living at Nottingham Cottage while the Cambridges were at Kensington Palace, “could see everything that Kate and William were enjoying… she realized she wasn’t in the front row.”
Harry recently revealed he was “embarrassed” showing Meghan his home and that his wife-to-be compared it to a “fraternity house”.
It comes after the Duke of Sussex lashed out at Mr Burrell in his recently released memoir Spare, in which he also launched vicious attacks on his brother and the monarchy.
In the book, released in the UK on Tuesday, Harry accused Diana’s former butler of “milking” her death for money by publishing his book A Royal Duty in 2001.
The novel contained a lot of private revelations, although Harry described it in his memoirs as “one man’s self-justifying, egocentric version of events”.
Harry said he learned about the book when he was working as an unpaid farmhand in Australia aged 19, adding that it “got my blood boiling”.
He wrote that he wanted to fly home to “confront” Mr. Burrell about his “cold and open betrayal,” but his father and brother talked him out of it.
Last week after the publication of Harry’s memoir, Mr Burrell said Diana was “appalled” by her youngest son’s behavior and accused Harry of making “personal, vindictive revelations”.
He added that he sees Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, as the driving force behind the Duke’s behavior.
He told Australian TV: “You [Meghan] is beside him and guides him on his way. You can’t just blame Harry. You have to blame both of them.
“I don’t like it when our king and Harry’s brother, who is on the way to becoming king, have the rug pulled out from under them. And the snipes that came down on Kate [the Princess of Wales]…
“Kate has never made a mistake. But the other side of the story will never be heard because royals believe there is great dignity in silence.