William, Harry and Britain’s long history of royal sibling spats

Fraternal relations rarely run entirely smoothly. But the degree of animosity revealed in reports of the physical clash between Princes William and Harry in the latter’s book Spare is nothing new in the turbulent history of Britain’s royals. In fact, the alleged spat between the brothers pales in comparison to the murderous hatreds between past regal siblings.

The bad blood began in 1077 when the two younger sons of William the Conqueror, coincidentally called William and Henry, emptied the contents of a chamber pot over the head of their elder brother Robert. So furious was Robert by his father’s refusal to punish his brothers for the prank that he launched an armed rebellion against him.

When William the Conqueror died, he left Normandy to Robert, but gave England’s crown to William who became King William II, known as Rufus. Henry had to be content with a bequest of money to buy himself land.