Prince William should say no to a Royal reconciliation with Prince Harry

Might the King’s cancer diagnosis lead the Royals to put aside the squabbles that have torn the family apart and come together, having seen the bigger picture of life and death? It is quite touching that the prodigal son, Prince Harry, rocked up, however briefly, in London to visit his dad, though it’s hoped he’s not ‘wired for sound’ and that the heartfelt expressions from the King on how much he’s missed his ‘darling boy’ don’t turn up on any future Netflix documentaries. After all, Harry has ‘previous’ when it comes to spilling the beans; his hiss-and-tell memoir includes details of a supremely solemn event, the funeral of Prince Philip: ‘We agreed to meet a few hours after the funeral. I got there first. I looked around, saw no one. I checked my phone, no texts, no voicemails’ – before crashing straight into a Led Zeppeliny-subtle riff about what rotters his living blood relatives are.

But while understanding Charles’ decision, I can’t deny that upon hearing that Prince William had ‘no plans’ to meet his brother, my disgraceful reaction was ‘YESSS!’ Though I believe that monarchy is a mistake, I have affection for the Diana-faced Heir Apparent (whether glad-handing Big Issue vendors or manhandling man-necklaces) and his well-groomed, well-meaning wife (great-great-granddaughter of a miner, daughter of a trolly dolly, portrayed by her errant bro-in-law as both a dress-up doll – ‘carefree, sweet…she loved clothes’ – and a Nazi-uniform-approver, which is pretty niche.)