“Both sides understand each other’s position clearly now,” said one friend of the couple. “William and Catherine felt completely betrayed by Harry’s memoir (Spare). They don’t speak to Harry and Meghan, and they are certainly not about to start when Catherine is at her most vulnerable.”

‘Just another person who sold his story to the papers’

Reports said Harry privately reached out to Kate after her cancer diagnosis. Another friend, who was initially friends with both Harry and William but now is not in contact with Harry anymore, dismissed claims that the Duke of Sussex’s good wishes could repair relations.

“[Harry is] just another person who sold his story to the papers. A ‘get well soon’ message is neither here nor there. But the whole situation doesn’t use up a huge amount of their mental energy any more. William and Kate have accepted it and moved on. Cancer puts things in perspective. William respects his father’s wish to reconcile with his son, but his focus now is on protecting his family from stressful situations,” the friend said.

Harry is set to return to the UK for a church service celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Invictus Games. Meghan Markle will not accompany him to London.

Friends of Kate and William previously told The Daily Beast that they “want peace and quiet for them and the kids.” “A visit from Harry, with all the drama that would bring, would be the opposite of that,” one person said in the past.

“They have come to terms with the estrangement from Harry, and are content to let sleeping dogs lie,” another friend said.