Prince Harry reportedly extended an 'olive branch' to Kate and William on latest UK trip

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Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry attend 'The Patron's Lunch' celebrations to mark Queen Elizabeth II's 90th birthday on The Mall on June 12, 2016 in London, England.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Prince Harry has reportedly made a significant move towards brokering peace between himself and the Royal Family — but a reconciliation is not forthcoming.

During his trip to the UK last week for his ongoing court case regarding his police protection while in the country, the Duke of Sussex apparently stayed in the luxurious Coworth Park hotel in Ascot, Berkshire — which is just a 20-minute drive from Prince William and Princess Kate's Windsor residence, Adelaide Cottage.

His "accommodation decision, which was relayed to Wills and Kate through security services, was seen as a potential olive branch to make peace after so many years estranged," a business friend of Harry's assured to the Express.

This was no accident, according to the friend. "Harry really is keen to try to salvage some kind of relationship or even reopen dialogue," they said, adding that the Duke and his family "have not had any full-length conversations or discussions since they had some time together around the Queen’s passing."

They continued: "And some of us saw Harry being so close to his brother as a gesture of saying 'hey I am here, close by... what about us trying to work things out?'"

The friend suggested that Harry would really like to "make peace and return to talking terms," but also explained that royals including William and Kate are struggling to move past all the things that Harry and his wife Meghan Markle said in their various interviews and other media appearances since their royal exit in 2020.

Even though the Sussexes have since moved away from publicly revealing their difficulties with the Royal Family, these revelations have already been made.

The royals' "view remains that a line, actually several lines, were crossed and there is no way of returning to how things were a decade ago," the friend said.

Indeed, as far as we know, Harry is essentially not on speaking terms with any of his close family members, and William has been said to have "no interest" in reconciling with his younger brother, with whom he was once close.

Iris Goldsztajn
Iris Goldsztajn is a celebrity and royal news writer for Marie Claire. As a London-based freelance journalist, she writes about wellness, relationships, pop culture, beauty and more for the likes of InStyle, Women's Health, Bustle, Stylist and Red. Aside from her quasi-personal investment in celebs' comings and goings, Iris is especially interested in debunking diet culture and destigmatising mental health struggles. Previously, she was the associate editor for Her Campus, where she oversaw the style and beauty news sections, as well as producing gift guides, personal essays and celebrity interviews. There, she worked remotely from Los Angeles, after returning from a three-month stint as an editorial intern for Cosmopolitan.com in New York. As an undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles, she interned at goop and C California Style and served as Her Campus' national style and LGBTQ+ editor. Iris was born and raised in France by a French father and an English mother. Her Spotify Wrapped is riddled with country music and One Direction, and she can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.