Prince Harry, 35, and Prince William were close growing up but they were raised in different ways. While Prince William was always treated as heir to the throne, his younger brother Harry assumed the role of “spare.” This “heir and spare” dynamic may have some advantages as Prince Harry is freer to choose his own future while Prince William is bound by royal duty.

Now a behind-the-scenes documentary about Meghan Markle, 38, and Prince Harry’s time in South Africa has fuelled speculation they could back out of royal life altogether.

In the ITV programme Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, The Duke and Duchess both open up about their struggles living in the royal spotlight.

Meghan Markle told journalist Tom Bradby: “I’ve said for a long time to H – that’s what I call him – it’s not enough to just survive something. That’s not the point of life.

“You’ve got to thrive. You’ve got to feel happy.”

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She added: “I think I really tried to adopt this British sensibility of a stiff upper lip. I tried. I really tried.”

“But I think that what that does internally is probably really damaging.”

While Prince Harry opened up about the lasting impact his mother Princess Diana’s tragic death still has on his mental health and how he wants to protect Meghan and Archie from the media scrutiny.

Harry also addressed rumours of a rift between him and Prince William and confirmed they were “on different paths.”

He said: “Part of this role and part of this job and this family being under the pressure that it’s under … stuff happens.

“But look we’re brothers. We’ll always be brothers.

“We’re certainly on different paths at the moment but I will always be there for him and as I know he’ll always be there for me.”

“We don’t see each other as much as we used to because we’re so busy but I love him dearly.”

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A royal commentator has explained how Prince Harry has more power to choose his future than his duty-bound older brother.

Richard Fitzwilliams told Express.co.uk: “William and Kate have just completed a highly successful tour of Pakistan, as the future king and Queen Consort there is obviously less independence but there is duty.

“Also there are their charitable commitments, they have got the balance right and are handling things brilliantly.”

He claimed Prince Harry’s discussion of his relationship with Prince William showed a “serious lack of judgement.”

Mr Fitzwilliams said: “To publicise differences with William, who reportedly had not seen the documentary before it was screened and trailers for which partly overshadowed the Cambridges trip to Pakistan, showed a serious lack of judgement too.

“If one takes what Harry says literally, that so much reminds him of Diana’s tragic death, when it is a royal goldfish bowl and the royals need the help of the press to get their message across as he and Meghan do for their charitable work, you can imagine the stress.

“He is clearly haunted by what happened to his mother.

“When he talked of going on separate paths from William and ups and downs in his relations with him, it inevitably created headlines he surely would have wanted to avoid”

He added: “William is clearly concerned about Harry after it was screened which is no surprise as both he and Meghan are clearly struggling and have said so.

“However this is almost totally unprecedented, you have to go back to Diana on Panorama to find anything similar.”

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