Grant Harrold developed a strong relationship with King Charles III’s children, Prince William and Prince Harry, throughout his seven years of service. He claims that the two were a naughty couple.
Unfortunately, the former royal butler has been heartbroken by the brother’s fiery fallout in the years since leaving Highgrove.
Regarding claims of violence between the two, Harrold has also been compelled to intervene.
Harry made several scathing claims about William in his shocking memoir Spare, referring to a long-standing rivalry by calling him his “beloved brother and arch-nemesis” in one passage.
“There’s always been this competition between us, weirdly. I think it really plays into the heir/spare dynamic,” he wrote in one instance, also claiming William had long taken issue with Harry’s wife, Meghan Markle.
The prince’s claim that his older brother once knocked him to the ground in his Nottingham Cottage home as they were talking about his relationship with the US-born former Suits actress is arguably the most unexpected one.
“He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and… knocked me to the floor,” Harry, 40, wrote. “I landed on the dog’s bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me.
“I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out.”
However, Grant Harrold, who served as Harry’s father and then Prince Charles’ royal butler for just under ten years, has now denied the prince’s claims.
Although he asserts that the brothers frequently got into amusing arguments during this time, neither of them suffered from a viol:ent illness.
“I never witnessed them have a fight,” Harrold exclusively told Tyla this week.
He continued: “That isn’t to say William didn’t give Harry a telling off sometimes as children – he was the big brother.
“You see the same dynamic nowadays between Prince George and Prince Louis, in what both Harry and Louis both seem to give back as good as they get.”
Harry also described William’s alleged rage whilst promoting his memoir during an interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby weeks later, adding of his brother: “I talk about the red mist that I had for so many years.
“I saw this red mist in him — he wanted me to hi:t him back but I chose not to.”
Harrold maintains on their behalf that any childhood feud between the brothers was “comedy,” despite the fact that neither Kensington Palace nor Buckingham Palace have responded to these especially derogatory allegations.
“I can guarantee you right now that I never saw a fight break out, a punch-up occur, or a shouting match take place between William and Harry,” he insisted.
“If it did, you’d know about it, because Highgrove isn’t that big. If you shouted, someone would hear you.”
The former butler said: “So, Harry saying William knocked him to the ground – I just don’t believe it.
“William hasn’t got that in him, that’s not him. I find the whole thing bizarre. William isn’t violent. Don’t get me wrong, he gets frustrated, but he’s not got it in him to fight his brother.”
In Spare, Harry recounts how his sister-in-law “grimaced” when the mother-of-two asked to borrow her lip gloss once, bringing Meghan to tears over her displeasure with Kate’s daughter Princess Charlotte’s bridesmaid outfit because of it.
Harrold explained: “He’s made her seem difficult, petulant, cold, especially when it comes to her relationship with Meghan.”
He continued: “William is a lot like his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth in that his family always comes first. William will stand up to attacks.
Of Harry himself, the published author adds that he’s ‘altered’ so much over the years, that is likely his family no longer recognise him.
Looking back on his work for Charles, Harrold commented: “The Harry I knew was playful. In the book, I recall he and William chasing me around Highgrove with water balloons. He was cheeky.
“He’d joke around with me, he’d wind me up. I remember, he’d often just start chasing me around the house, and I’d bolt up the stairs terrified he was going to pull a prank on me. He was very much a practical joker, and it was great seeing that. But he also had a really humble side to him.”
