BROTHERLY LOVE?

How Prince William Used Instagram to Shade Prince Harry’s Big Day in London

A social media sneak attack or an innocent accident of timing?

Hours before Prince Harry took to the stage Monday night as the star of the WellChild Awards, his most prestigious remaining U.K. charity commitment, his brother released his “monthly rewind.”

It was a move that friends of Prince William denied was intended to overshadow his brother but said may have unintentionally illustrated the differences in their working lives.

The Prince and Princess of Wales’ social media accounts typically release a “monthly rewind” as a recap of each month. However, they often do so on the first of the following month. For example, the August rewind was posted on Sept. 1 and the July rewind was posted on Aug. 1.

It was notable, then, that Monday’s social media splurge dropped online just over an hour before the WellChild Awards kicked off in London.

The moments highlighted by Kensington Palace included Princess Kate’s announcement that she has recovered from cancer, plenty of coverage of the newly bearded Prince William’s Earthshot prize, Kate’s impromptu and private visit to a ballet performance, and an art exhibition in support of and advocating on behalf of the homeless.

The social media messages were posted at 2:39 p.m., local time.

A little over an hour later, at 3:57, WellChild began its online stream, with Harry arriving shortly thereafter.

Prince William’s office declined to comment, though a friend of the prince’s told The Daily Beast: “It’s the end of the month and at the end of the month they do release the rewind. I’m sure the time of day they did it had nothing to do with Harry. But I think what is notable is that it shows how much they do on a monthly basis, and if that has been inadvertently highlighted it’s no bad thing.”

Another royal insider said: “It’s the age old weaponization of scheduling. The different principals were always supposed to try—but often failed—not to schedule high-profile events for the same day to avoid knocking each other off the front pages. It’s less of an issue now that there are fewer of them. But old habits clearly die hard, and there is no reason now that William should make allowances for Harry’s schedule.

“I certainly wouldn’t buy anyone saying it just happened to be posted so late in the day by accident. A ‘monthly rewind’ could equally well have gone out the next day, or earlier in the day. It looks to me like someone is stirring the pot and letting Harry know he is not going to have it all his own way if he wants to pitch up in London and do what always used to be a royal job on a freelance basis.”

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Harry Won’t Meet William or Charles on U.K. Trip: Sources

Tom Sykes

Prince Harry is in London as part of a hectic few days of travel. He has already been in New York for Climate Week and U.N. High-Level Week, and after his sojourn in London is due to travel to the African principality of Lesotho.

He was not expected to meet with his father and brother, with whom he is locked in a multi-year feud, despite the fact that they sent him birthday wishes last month (a gesture that, unsurprisingly perhaps, didn't make the monthly rewind).

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Tom SykesEuropean Editor at Large

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