EXCLUSIVE: As Prince Harry’s sister-in-law Kate Middleton continues her treatment for cancer, a source has told OK! that Harry increasingly misses their friendship

A lot has changed for Prince Harry since stepping down from royal duties and moving to California with Meghan. They have forged a whole new life for themselves in Montecito, and welcomed son Archie, now 5, and daughter Lilibet, now 2, to the world.

But it has also been a tumultuous time when it comes to Harry’s relationship with his famous family back home – and according to a source, he particularly misses the special relationship he had with his brother William’s wife, Kate.

In recent years, the feud between the Waleses and the Sussexes has persisted, heightened by the publication of Harry’s memoir Spare – and in Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, the couple spoke at length about their feelings on Prince William and Princess Kate.

But time can be a great healer, and our source claims that Harry is beginning to yearn for a closer relationship with his niece and nephew back in Britain – not only for himself, but his own children, who have had next to no contact with Harry’s side of the family.

“Whatever Harry feels about his brother and his dad, he always feels guilty that he doesn’t have a relationship with his niece and nephews and that Archie and Lili don’t know their only cousins,” they claimed.

“Harry always had visions of them growing up around him and being able to come and ask him for advice that they couldn’t ask their parents, especially Charlotte and Louis.”

The source maintains that as heir to the throne, his nephew George is on a journey that Harry has no experience of – but he is acutely aware of how it feels to be the ‘spare’ – so much so, he gave his bombshell 2023 memoir that very title.

Harry reportedly wants to be there for his niece and nephews (Image: (Image: PA))
Harry has previously said he still feels a “responsibility” towards Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5, who were both born after their elder brother, Prince George, 10, who as firstborn is in line to inherit the throne.

“George is on a different path, and Harry doesn’t know what that feels like – but he is well aware of what it’s like to be the ‘spare’ and not have the same purpose. He sees a lot of himself in little Louis and it breaks his heart that he doesn’t really know them.”

Kate and Harry used to have an incredibly close bond – he once claimed she was the ‘sister he never had’. And missing her friendship in his life, claims our source, is weighing heavily on the Prince’s mind. It must be even harder to be on the other side of the Atlantic as Kate continues her battle with cancer.

“He often thinks about messaging Kate as he really misses her. Seeing them grow up in the same way the rest of the world does is hard and he wishes things were different.”

Kate and Harry were once very close (Image: Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
Royal author Tom Quinn previously maintained of Harry and Kate, that “[Harry] really misses that warm, uncomplicated relationship, and he is torn between loyalty to his wife and regret about the loss of the woman he was so close to. He added poignantly, “Losing Kate was Harry’s second great loss after losing his mother.”

And according to another royal expert, Tessa Dunlop, Kate’s cancer diagnosis, which she went public with back in March, will have left Harry in a “painful place.” She said in an interview with US Weekly: “When you do discover that your sister-in-law has cancer and you’ve written stuff that can’t be retracted, that’s quite a painful place to be in.”

Harry’s father King Charles, who is also battling cancer, reportedly does his best to keep his son up to date on the family, claims our source – but the prince feels it’s not enough.

“Charles keeps him up to date with some things about the family but he doesn’t know that much about the children and they don’t know him or Archie and Lili.

Prince Harry – pictured with Archie and Lilibet – stepped down from royal duties and moved to California with Meghan (Image: alexilubomirski/Instagram)
“He always said he worries for William’s kids as they get older because of the pressure that they’re under and he feels like he could be the only one to help them and be a proper uncle to them.”

Harry’s worries about the next generation of royals, especially Prince William’s children, had already been laid bare in Spare.

In an interview promoting his memoir, Harry expressed his belief that he is “someone who likes to fix things,” and spoke about his concern for other “spares” in his family.

“If it’s not us, it’s going to be someone else,” he said, before revealing that his older brother made clear to him that “his kids are not my responsibility… At least one will end up like me, the spare,” he said. “And that hurts me.”

Who knows, perhaps ‘Uncle Harry’ will soon be stepping up to play a bigger part in his niece and nephew’s lives – and that could surely only strengthen, in turn, his troubled relationship with William and Kate.