The Duke and Duchess of Sussex released a simple message several hours after the Princess of Wales’s cancer-announcement video came out. The message: “We wish health and healing for Kate and the family, and hope they are able to do so privately and in peace.” I’m still sort of in awe of how they avoided sounding terse AND how they avoided sounding too ass-kissy. Just the right tone for a sister-in-law who spent years being deeply unpleasant to them (mostly Meghan). Shortly after the Sussexes’ statement, we also heard that Harry and Meghan had “reached out privately” to the Waleses. Given the way that story unfolded, it feels like Prince William has done the most for four straight days to brief against the Sussexes and scream and cry about how he will never reconcile with Harry. Well, if you need more evidence of that:

Prince William “has responded” to Prince Harry’s text but not in the “warm, informal” way you’d expect, it has been claimed. At the end of last week, Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, revealed that she was diagnosed with cancer following abdominal surgery she underwent earlier this year at The London Clinic. After the announcement made headlines around the world, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex issued a statement, with it soon alleged that they had also “reached out privately” to the Waleses.

Royal expert and author Tom Quinn has now exclusively revealed to The Mirror: “Harry and Meghan have been in contact with William, but their private message was simply one of sympathy and didn’t include any suggestion the brothers should make up and let bygones be bygones or that Harry should fly back to the UK soon.”

He added: “There is just too much ill-feeling for that. William, who is still hurt by everything Harry has said in the past, has responded, but the response is very much engineered by the palace and it’s hardly the kind of warm, informal response you would expect from one brother to another. It’s more like the sort of communication you would get between two slightly wary diplomats.”

Around the same time as the above, reports swirled that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were allegedly “not told” about Kate’s health before the announcement was broadcast. “They had no idea, and only learned of the news around the same time the rest of the world found out,” an insider told the New York Post at the time.

[From The Daily Mirror]

Just so we’re clear, Harry sent Willim a text and William then went on a briefing rampage about how much he hates his brother and never wants to see him again. All it took was one text from Harry, and William is incandescent with rage and ranting to reporters about how he can’t trust Harry, etc. Also: one of the most galling parts of this whole sh-tshow is the idea that William and Kate were making some kind of pointed “snub” by not telling the Sussexes in advance. It’s clear that Kate and William didn’t even tell their OWN STAFF what was going on for weeks/months. It also sounds like King Charles and Camilla only found out last week! Besides, the Windsors made this big song and dance about the Sussexes being kept out of the loop as the palace fiascoes were in full swing, which is a blessing – all of the palace’s catastrophes couldn’t be blamed on the Sussexes in any way. They had no knowledge of any of it. They are minding their business in Montecito.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.