Any grooms would be forgiven for being nervous when their best man stands up to give his speech.
But when you’re the future King, and your best man is Prince Harry, It is understandable why William might have been a little concerned what his brother was about to stand up and say.
However, William need not worry as the speech Harry gave hit the perfect tone between seriousness and fun it also demonstrated just how close the Princes were.
Writing in his biography about William and Harry and their wives – titled Brothers and Wives – royal author Christopher Andersen revealed the content of the Duke of Sussex‘s best man speech.
‘In his best man’s toast, Harry apologised to Kate “for having to marry a bald man,” delivered spot-on impressions of William, “cooing down the line at Babykins” and Kate calling his brother “Billy” and referred to them repeatedly as “the dude and the duchess”,’ Andersen wrote.
He continued: ‘There were muffled sobs when Harry told his brother, “Our mother would be so very proud of you,” and sighs when he said he loved Kate like a sister.
‘At one point, the bride wiped away tears when her newly minted brother-in-law traded smiles with Chelsy and admitted that Kate and William’s decade long romance was his “inspiration”.’
There were some lines that were smartly removed by Chelsy Davy, Harry’s girlfriend at the time, such as a line praising Kate Middleton’s ‘killer legs’.
Prince William and Kate Middleton wave to well wishers on their wedding day. Writing in his biography about William and Harry and their wives – titled Brothers and Wives – royal author Christopher Andersen revealed details about the big day
Prince Harry and Pippa Middleton on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. Harry’s speech hit the perfect tone between seriousness and fun and demonstrated just how close the Princes were
The party then continued in the throne room which Pippa Middleton had transformed into a nightclub.
As the day of celebrations drew to a close fireworks were set off above the palace.
‘Harry put his arms around around William and Kate and began to weep. Soon the best man and the bride were helping brush away each other’s tears while a bemused and thoroughly dry-eyed William looked on.’
‘”People don’t realise how much Harry and Kate love and help each other,” an other guest said of the moment. “It’s key to this whole thing”.’
In the years immediately following the wedding, William and Kate worked continued to work closely with Harry.
In 2011, Kate Middleton joined the Royal Foundation which was set up in 2009 and has worked on numerous projects close to the princes’ hearts including mental health, environmental issues and homelessness.
It was around this time that Prince Harry helped set up the Invictus Games with £1million worth of funding from the foundation.
When Harry married Meghan in 2018 she also joined the foundation and the so-called ‘fab four’ became the the Royal Family‘s dream team.
William and Kate kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. ‘In his best man’s toast, Harry apologised to Kate “for having to marry a bald man,” delivered spot-on impressions of William
Harry’s then girlfriend Chelsy Davy at Kate and William’s wedding. There were some lines that were smartly removed by Chelsy such as a line praising Kate Middleton’s ‘killer legs’
Harry waves at onlookers. Both Kate and Harry shed tears together at the end of the wedding
Indeed when Harry and Meghan started dating, Kate and William reportedly found the former actress ‘delightful’ – with the young royals appearing at a number of engagements together.
Fast forward to the present and, while the so-called ‘peace summit’ in July 2025 suggests that relations between the Sussexes and the Prince and Princess of Wales could be thawing, both camps appear to be a long way from a reconciliation.
It has been widely established that Meghan was at the centre of the tension between Harry and William in particular. But one royal author has claimed the falling out was to do with how the Duchess of Sussex acted, not what she said.
Meghan’s ‘warm, friendly, hug-everyone approach’ ruffled feathers, according to Tom Quinn’s history of royal servants, titled Yes, Ma’am.
He wrote: ‘It made William uncomfortable because [Meghan] hugged him virtually every time they bumped into each other.’
The prince’s opposition to the displays of affection was not due to a dislike of Meghan but concern for what courtiers might think.
‘The hugging and cheek kissing fuelled gossip among the staff that Meghan was flirting with William, which she was obviously not. But the tense atmosphere caused by all the touchy-feeliness (and the resultant gossip) deepened the rift between the brothers,’ Quinn said.
Likewise, Meghan clashed with William’s ‘rather awkward, even inhibited personality’ – which she reportedly found ‘baffling’.
The so-called ‘fab four’ – comprising Prince Harry, Meghan, Prince William and Kate – were the Royal Family’s dream team at one time
Harry, Meghan and Kate in 2018. When the Sussexes started dating, William and Kate found the former actress ‘delightful’ – with the young royals attending several engagements together
Prince William kisses Meghan on the cheek in April 2018. Her hugging and kissing of William fuelled gossip among royal staff that the duchess was flirting with him
Quinn wrote: ‘A member of staff recalled Meghan asking, “Why do William and Charles sound so serious all the time?”
‘She used to make jokes about Harry not having the same parents as William, as she insisted, “Harry isn’t pompous at all. He’s chill”.’
But it was Meghan’s treatment of staff while working as a royal that put the most strain on the princes’ relationship.
Concerns were raised to the Sussexes about their alleged behaviour towards staff as early as 2017, it was reported in Robert Lacey’s Battle of Brothers book.
Meghan would send emails as early as 5am, leaving staff with a ‘barrage’ of messages in their inboxes, a Kensington Palace source claimed.
The couple reigned over a ‘really toxic environment’ which saw colleagues shaking before meetings alongside allegations of bullying, they added. There was even a claim the encounters left one employee with PTSD.
While Meghan brushed off a complaint about her conduct from a senior aide, claiming ‘it’s not my job to coddle people’, Prince William did not respond so flippantly to the issue.
When Jason Knauf – a royal aide who worked with the Sussexes – presented William with a ‘dossier of distress’ about their behaviour he ‘went ballistic’ and was left ‘astonished’ and ‘horrified’ by what he heard, according to Lacey.
Prince Harry and Meghan in February 2018. She allegedly used to joke Harry and William had different parents due to how unlike one another the two are
William’s anger stemmed from the fact that a tradition of treating the staff ‘like family’ had been broken and that he personally knew many of those named, Lacey wrote.
Harry and his brother then allegedly had a testy phone call, in which the Duke of Sussex ‘flared up in a fierce defence of his wife’.
Lacey added: ‘The moment the prince heard the bullying allegations, he got straight on the phone to talk to Harry – and when Harry flared up in furious defence of his wife, the elder brother persisted.
‘Harry shut off his phone angrily, so William went straight round to find his brother on the Kensington campus.’
As early as 2019, rumours of a falling out between the brothers began circulating.
It was first addressed by Harry in the documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, with him saying: ‘You have good days, you have bad days.’
By 2020, tensions appeared to have deepened when Harry and Meghan announced their plans to step back as senior royals.
Harry later claimed in his Netflix series with Meghan that William shouted at him during the Sandringham summit.
The brothers were last publicly together at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in September 2022, though they both attended the private funeral for their uncle Robert Fellowes last summer.
When Jason Knauf presented William with a ‘dossier of distress’ about Harry and Meghan’s behaviour, the prince reportedly ‘went ballistic’
The estrangement between the two princes had been ‘hard and sad‘, Knauf revealed in an Australian documentary this year.
He said: ‘We have ups and downs in family. Even when you really love someone, you can have times when you don’t want to spend that much time with them.
‘It’s very difficult to have this stuff play out in the public eye, but [William’s] chosen to keep his thoughts on it private and I think all of us who know him really have to respect that.
‘We should do the same, but I will say of course it’s been hard and sad – especially for all of us who know both of them.’
Meghan’s ‘touchy-feely’ style does have some fans. Producer Jane Marie, who worked with Harry and Meghan during the development of Archewell Audio projects, insisted to Vanity Fair that Meghan is ‘just a lovely, genuine person’