King Charles’ 2 Children: Everything to Know About Prince William and Prince Harry

Prince William and Prince Harry have been through quite a lot together.

As the children of King Charles and the late Princess Diana, the royal brothers were often referred to as the “heir and spare” — and the adage has stuck with the siblings as they’ve each navigated their lives in the royal spotlight.

The first son of Charles and Diana, Prince William, was born in June 1982. The former couple’s second son, Prince Harry, arrived two years later in September 1984. Though the brothers were close as children, a rift among the royal family developed in recent years, most prominently when Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, announced their decision to step back from royal duties and move to California in 2020.

For more on Prince William and Prince Harry, listen below to our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day.

“These two brothers — once inseparable and now separated by much more than mere distance — have been acting out the contradictions that go back into their childhoods and even before that: into their parents’ ill-fated marriage,” said royal author Robert Lacey in 2020. “We have seen conflicts between heir and spare in every recent generation of the royal family — but nothing so profound as this.”

On Jan. 4, 2023, The Guardian reported that Prince Harry wrote that William physically attacked him in his memoir, Spare. The incident allegedly took place in 2019 at Harry’s London home, after William called Markle “difficult,” “rude” and “abrasive.”

After more insults were exchanged, the argument escalated. Harry wrote, “He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. 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.” William reportedly left soon after, only to return “looking regretful” and apologized.

The following day, a preview of Prince Harry’s interview with Good Morning America host Michael Strahan aired. In the clip, Strahan revealed that Harry referred to his brother as both his “beloved brother” and his “archnemesis” in the book.

“There has always been this competition between us, weirdly,” Harry said on the subject. “I think it really plays into, or was played by, the ‘heir/spare.’ ”

Even in the midst of a troubled time in the princes’ relationship, their respect for their father appears to remain steadfast. With William honoring Charles at his crowning ceremony and Harry traveling to London to attend the historic event, even after exiting royal life. However, the two brothers did not appear to interact at the May 6 coronation.

Ahead of William and Harry’s father’s coronation, National Geographic produced Charles: In His Own Words, a special with never-before-seen archival footage. Director Tom Jennings told PEOPLE that King Charles’ love for his sons was a clear theme in the documentary.

“I was surprised. We found that great footage of him in ’93, ’94, with his sons at a loch in Scotland, running around in a kilt and roughhousing with his boys. And then we found several interviews from him that weave throughout there, and it paints an endearing portrait of him as a father. Listening to what he said hoped for his sons as they were growing up, I found those words to be very sincere,” he said.

In February 2024, King Charles was diagnosed with cancer. Before publicly stating the news, the King shared the diagnosis with his close family members, including both of his sons. A source close to Prince William told PEOPLE that Charles is in close contact with his elder son and Harry had plans to travel to the U.K. shortly after the news was announced.

From their childhood to becoming fathers themselves, here’s everything to know about King Charles’ two children.

Prince William, 41

Prince William.
Chris Jackson – WPA Pool/Getty

King Charles and Princess Diana welcomed their first son — and future monarch — Prince William on June 21, 1982, at London’s St. Mary’s Hospital. At the time of his son’s birth, Charles told the waiting press, “He has the good fortune not to look like me.”

A year later, Charles and Diana broke royal protocol when they took their son on a tour of Australia and New Zealand — an unusual move for royals, who typically left their young children at home when embarking on similar trips. Prince William subsequently made his carriage debut at the Trooping the Colour celebration in 1987 when he was only 4 years old; this was the same age at which his mother confessed that the toddler was sometimes referred to as “William the Terrible” at home.

The public enjoyed their first true introduction to the young prince in 1991 when William made his official royal engagement debut in Cardiff, Wales, alongside his parents. The future king would become a fixture in the public from there, sharing numerous intimate moments of his life with the media and photographers. His first day at Eton College was documented in the press amid the separation of his parents.

Prince William grew closer to his grandmother Queen Elizabeth while enrolled at the school, as the two shared weekly lunches during this time. Lacey told PEOPLE the lunches began out of the Queen’s enormous concern for William’s wellbeing. The author explained, “The prince takes his style from his royal grandmother, who intervened as the marriage of William’s parents dissolved in 1995. The 13-year-old was in a fragile place — alone and just starting boarding at the elite Eton College across the river from Windsor. Concerned for her grandson’s emotional state, the Queen invited William up to join her when Eton boys went home for the weekend.”

Prince William and Prince Harry lost their mother in a fatal car accident in August 1997. Diana’s death had a profound impact on both of her sons, and William later admitted that finding out about his mother’s passing was the saddest moment in his life. As he recounted while on a royal tour of Scotland in 2022, “In short, Scotland is the source of some of my happiest memories. But also, my saddest. I was in Balmoral when I was told that my mother had died. Still in shock, I found sanctuary in the service at Crathie Kirk that very morning. And in the dark days of grief that followed, I found comfort and solace in the Scottish outdoors. As a result, the connection I feel to Scotland will forever run deep.”

Chris Jackson/Getty

In 2001, William enrolled at the University of St. Andrews, where he was soon introduced to fellow student Kate Middleton. While the two would go on to marry and have children, Kate admitted in the pair’s engagement interview that it took time for them to break the ice at first. As she put it, “I think you said I actually went bright red when I met you and sort of scuttled off. [I was] feeling very shy about meeting you.” Prince William agreed and explained that the two were friends for quite some time before taking their relationship to the next level. He said, “We were friends for over a year first. It just sort of blossomed from then on.”

While building his relationship with Kate, Prince William continued to gain more royal duties. He celebrated Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee in 2002 before moving in with Kate in 2003. The pair’s early days of living together found William attempting to learn to cook to impress his girlfriend. “When I was trying to impress Kate, I was trying to cook these amazing fancy dinners, and all that would happen was, I would burn something, something would overspill, something would catch on fire, and she’d be sitting in the background just trying to help and [then] taking control of the whole situation,” he recalled in 2010.

In early 2006, he enrolled at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Prince William attended the school ahead of his time in the British military, and Kate joined his family to celebrate William’s graduation at the end of the year. This marked a big step forward for the couple, as it was the first time Kate had attended an event with Queen Elizabeth.

Following a brief split in 2007, Prince William proposed to Kate in 2010. A friend told PEOPLE following the engagement news, “Everyone is absolutely delighted. He has never had eyes for any other woman since Kate came on the scene. She is going to make a wonderful wife, a wonderful princess.”

The pair wed on April 29, 2011, at Westminster Abbey and were named the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. While the wedding was a happy occasion for most, William’s brother, Harry, later wrote about the difficulties of watching the pair get married. “The brother I’d escorted into Westminster Abbey that morning was gone — forever,” Harry shared in an excerpt of his memoir Spare, before naming activities he knew the two would never do together again.

He continued, “And I recall Willy walking her back up the aisle, and as they disappeared through the door, into the carriage that would convey them to Buckingham Palace, into the eternal partnership they’d pledged, I recall thinking: Goodbye.”

William and Kate soon welcomed three children: Prince George was born in July 2013, Princess Charlotte joined the family two years later in May 2015, and their third child, Prince Louis, arrived in April 2018.

Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty

After Queen Elizabeth died in September 2022, William and Kate became the Prince and Princess of Wales as well as the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and Cambridge.

In light of his most recent titles, William shared in late 2022 that he began the process of learning Welsh, the language of Wales. Reverend Steven Bunting, who hosted the Prince and Princess of Wales in late September, explained, “He talked about learning Welsh and shared some Welsh phrases he’s trying to do.”

With his father now King, William has “fully immersed” himself into the role of Prince of Wales, according to a source. The insider added of William and Charles, “Talking about the future of the country and their future roles has strengthened their bond.”

Prince Harry, 39

Prince Harry.
John Lamparski/Getty

Prince Harry, King Charles and Princess Diana’s second son, was born on Sept. 15, 1984, at St. Mary’s Hospital in London.

Harry and his brother were close as children, though they have always had different destinies and paths. Royal author Penny Junor once explained to PEOPLE that the two brothers were close by fate and necessity. As she said, “Broadly speaking, they have always been very different characters but very close because of their situation — the fact that [their parents’] marriage was unhappy. They relied upon each other.”

The loss of his mother in August 1997 had a massive impact on Prince Harry, who was 12 years old at the time. He later opened up about the last conversation he had with Diana and admitted that he hadn’t seen his mother in nearly a month when the fatal car crash occurred. While speaking in a 2017 documentary about his mother, Harry explained, “There was the point where our parents split and … we never saw our mother enough or we never saw our father enough. There was a lot of traveling and lot of fights on the back seat with my brother — which I would win.”

The years that followed were somewhat difficult for a young Prince Harry. He began attending Eton College in 1998, where he gained a reputation for partying. As royal historian Lacey wrote in his book Battle of the Brothers: The Inside Story of a Family in Tumult, Harry was known for being typecast as a “bad boy” while he attended the school from 1998 to 2003. Harry later admitted to taking his education at Eton for granted. He said, “We do take it for granted, and it is a privilege. But every single person, every single child, every single young person needs an education.”

Eventually, Prince Harry emerged from the Eton period of his life with a new focus. He served a 10-week tour of duty in Afghanistan after deploying to the country on Christmas Eve in 2007. The British army had hoped to keep Harry’s time in the country a secret, but the royal family was forced to confirm rumors that he was fighting against the Taliban after the story leaked. Harry’s spokesperson explained, “Prince Harry is very proud to serve his country on operations alongside his fellow soldiers and to do the job he has been trained for.”

As he moved through adulthood, Prince Harry began to focus on charities and causes that were championed by his mom. He founded the organization Sentebale in Lesotho, South Africa, in honor of Diana. While discussing why he started Sentebale, which works with children who have AIDS, Harry commented, “I get a huge buzz from spending time with kids. I’m still very much a kid inside myself. And spending time with them keeps me grounded as such.” Harry also visited South Africa with his brother Prince William in 2010, where the two worked on confidence-building with children who were HIV positive.

Harry and William teamed up again to establish the Endeavour Fund in 2012 as part of the Royal Foundation, along with Kate. Two years later, Prince Harry founded the Invictus Games, an international Olympics-like sporting event for people who have been wounded in combat.

King Charles and Prince Harry.
Samir Hussein/Samir Hussein/WireImage

In 2016, Prince Harry was introduced to his now-wife Meghan Markle on a blind date — and the two got engaged the following year. As Meghan later shared in their engagement interview with the BBC, “[We were] trying to roast a chicken and it just — just an amazing surprise, it was so sweet and natural and very romantic. He got on one knee.” Harry added, “She didn’t even let me finish, she said, ‘Can I say yes, can I say yes?’ and there were hugs. I had the ring in my finger and I was like, ‘Can I — can I give you the ring?’ She goes — ‘Oh yes, the ring.’ ”

Prince Harry and Meghan married on May 19, 2018, and became the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. They welcome their first son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, in May 2019 ahead of their first anniversary. The family of three embarked on their first royal tour together to South Africa months later in September 2019, and Harry took time during the trip to retrace his mother’s famous walk through a landmine field and to name a hospital in her honor.

The year would also prove to be a challenging one for the couple. In October 2019, Prince Harry expressed his frustration with the British media, which he accused of targeting himself and his wife relentlessly. He issued a statement that read in part, “Unfortunately, my wife has become one of the latest victims of a British tabloid press that wages campaigns against individuals with no thought to the consequences — a ruthless campaign that has escalated over the past year, throughout her pregnancy and while raising our newborn son.” Harry and Meghan also filmed a documentary for the British channel ITV in which they expressed their struggles within the royal family.

Harry said in the documentary that the loss of his mother was very present for him at the time. As he put it, “Look, part of this job and part of any job, like everybody, means putting on a brave face and turning a cheek to a lot of the stuff. But again, for me and for my wife, of course, there’s a lot of stuff that hurts — especially when the majority of it is untrue. All we need to do is focus on being real, focus on being the people we are and standing up for what we believe in. I will not be bullied into carrying a game that killed my mum.”

Despite that statement, it came as a huge surprise when Prince Harry and Meghan announced their intention to step back from senior royal duties in January 2020. They moved to California and announced a lucrative partnership with Netflix later that year.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty

The couple established their nonprofit organization Archewell the same year, all while preparing for the birth of their second child. Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor joined the family on June 4, 2021, only months after Harry and Meghan confirmed to Queen Elizabeth their intention to continue to work outside the establishment of the royal family, as confirmed by Buckingham Palace.

The period was fraught with familial tension between Prince Harry and the royal family. He and Meghan sat down for a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in early 2021 that proved to further damage the relationships Harry had with his father and brother; in May of the same year, Harry appeared alongside Winfrey in the documentary The Me You Can’t See, in which he discussed his mental health journey in detail.

Prince Harry and Meghan returned to the United Kingdom for the first time in two years in April 2022, when they visited Queen Elizabeth on their way to the Invictus Games taking place in the Netherlands. In June 2022, a friend revealed to PEOPLE that despite the ups and downs Harry and his grandmother were still very close. As the friend said, “If Harry asks, the Queen would say yes — as she adores him.”

Prince Harry was in Europe when news broke that Queen Elizabeth had died; he and his wife were able to join his family in the hours that followed the monarch’s passing, though their children did not attend the funeral. Harry released a statement about his grandmother’s passing and noted, “In celebrating the life of my grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen — and in mourning her loss — we are all reminded of the guiding compass she was to so many in her commitment to service and duty. She was globally admired and respected. Her unwavering grace and dignity remained true throughout her life and now her everlasting legacy. Let us echo the words she spoke after the passing of her husband, Prince Philip, words which can bring comfort to all of us now: ‘Life, of course, consists of final partings as well as first meetings.”

In October 2022, Harry announced that his memoir, titled Spare, will be published and released in January 2023. His official statement explained that his intention with the book is to write as “the man I’ve become.” As he put it, “I’ve worn many hats over the years, both literally and figuratively, and my hope is that in telling my story — the highs and lows, the mistakes, the lessons learned — I can help show that no matter where we come from, we have more in common than we think.”

On Feb. 9, 2023, a source close to the royal household told PEOPLE that King Charles wants Harry back in the family and hopes his youngest will attend his coronation.

“It is such a momentous occasion for Charles, and he would want his son to be at the coronation to witness it. He would like to have Harry back in the family,” the insider said. “If they don’t sort it out, it will always be part of the King’s reign and how he has left his family disjointed. He has had a reputation as a distant parent, and it would be awful for him for that to continue.”

In April 2023, Buckingham Palace confirmed that Harry will attend the coronation, while Meghan will “remain in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.” The day of the coronation, May 6, 2023, is also Archie’s fourth birthday.

Later that month, The Sun reported that Harry will be in and out of Great Britain in just 24 hours. “He will only be doing the coronation service, then leaving,” a source told the outlet.

After watching his father get crowned king at his May 6, 2023, coronation ceremony, Harry did not join some of his other family members on the balcony of Buckingham Palace and instead returned to California to celebrate his son’s birthday with Meghan.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education