uaetodaynews.com — William and Kate are trying to ‘break the cycle’ of heir and spare feud by giving Prince George and Princess Charlotte a ‘normal upbringing’, royal experts claim
The Prince and Princess of Wales’s children will break the cycle of heir and spare sibling rivalry thanks to a more ‘normal childhood’ and modernised line of succession, royal experts have claimed.
William‘s daughter and sons are less likely to suffer the same bitter ‘rift’ he and his brother, the Duke of Sussexfell to as a result of changes made to 21st century monarchy, insiders speaking in a new Channel 5 documentary have shared.
Some believe that this, in part, will be due to the end of a centuries-old primogeniture tradition, which ended in 2013, previously dictating that the first born son would take the throne, and that any resulting spare must be succeeded by the next born male.
‘For the first time in British history, the spare is a princess, even though she has a younger brother,’ Dr Nige Fletcher, a political and contemporary historian, explained.
‘Princess Charlotte is in line after George, after a change in the law, and she now outranks her brother, Louis.’
Ten-year-old Charlottewill be the first to benefit from the long-needed update, which previously sidelined Princess Anne and made Prince Andrew the spare to Charles.
This will also open the door to more harmonious relations between siblings, according to Tom Quinn, historian and author of Scandals of the Royal Palaces.
‘It will make things a lot easier because there won’t be two males like two deer clashing antlers anymore,’ he remarked.
The Prince and Princess of Wales are working to ‘break the cycle’ of royal sibling rivalry by giving them a more ‘normal childhood’, say royal experts. Prince George and Princess Charlotte pictured at the Together at Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey in 2024
Speaking in the documentary, others suggested that the future will be different for the youngest successors because they are being raised as equals and have a more ‘normal’ upbringing – a ‘key to unpacking and shifting expectations of our heirs and spares’.
Ailsa Anderson, former press secretary to Queen Elizabeth II also said they would have more ‘freedom and choice than their father had’.
If successful, it would break the cycle of historic rival relations in the family.
Three generations ago, King Edward VIII and his younger brother, King George VI, famously severed all ties after the intended heir abdicated the throne in 1936, after his requests to marry American socialite Wallis Simpson were repeatedly denied.
The sudden move forced the spare, George, to take the crown, a succession he had never trained for nor wanted for himself.
With neither brother satisfied with their fate, each blaming the other for their circumstances, friction further escalated between the pair and eventually resulted in a complete collapse in their relationship.
In more recent history, Andrew was the ‘spare’ to his oldest sibling, King Charles. Although Princess Anne was the second-born of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the rules of succession at the time meant that the next-born son would be next in line for the throne.
Speaking to Vanity Fairroyal author Nigel Cawthorne said of the disgraced Duke: ‘He’s always had this role that kind of meant nothing’ – and felt ‘stuck’ by it.
Three generations ago, King Edward VIII (second right) and his younger brother, King George VI (second left), famously severed all ties after the intended heir abdicated the throne in 1936, after his requests to marry American socialite Wallis Simpson were repeatedly denied
It was a royal relationship that would be seen playing out again and again, with King Charles (right) and his spare, Prince Andrew, (left) currently in the midst of an ongoing battle, the same fate having been met separately by Princes William and Harry. Pictured at the 2012 Diamond Jubilee
Some have even claimed that Andrew, who has been mired in controversy since his links to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein were reported, ‘plotted’ to prevent Charles becoming king in the 1990s, with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.
Angela Levin’s book Camilla: From Outcast to Queen Consort, released at the end of September, 2022, posited that he tried to bypass the line of succession so that, when his mother Queen Elizabeth II died, Prince William would ascend the throne and create a role for himself as Prince Regent.
‘Andrew lobbied very hard with the hope that Charles would not become king when his mother died, and that William would wear the crown’, she wrote.
A ‘senior insider’ allegedly told the royal author: ‘(Andrew’s) behaviour was very, very negative and extremely unpleasant to Queen (Elizabeth), who disagreed. I was told it was one of the rare occasions he didn’t get his way.’
Experts speculated that this destiny was a direct result of the fraught power dynamic inherent in the heir-and-spare relationship.
Where Charles was destined to hold the crown, his brother, more than ten years is junior, was afforded freedoms far greater as the spare, a birthright that made him infinitely more unruly.
Prince Andrew’s reputation for partying and bed hopping quickly earned him tabloid nicknames, including ‘randy Andy’ and ‘airmiles Andy’, these early smears forming the foundation for what would become an extremely tumultuous relationship between the pair.
While Charles kept under the radar and maintained his royal duties, Andrew continued to present himself as a ‘loose canon’.
Continued swipes from Harry at his brother and the Firm, have left their relationship in tatters, with little hope for future reconciliation. Pictured in 2021
Experts believe his continually raucous behaviour led the relationship to become ‘poisonous’, and eventually led to the watershed moment when in 2012, as part of his plan for a ‘slimmed down monarchy’, Charles cut him from the balcony.
Chandrika Kaul, professor of modern history at St Andrews told the documentary the move was designed to ‘draw the line’ and show how ‘serious’ he was.
The final wedge was driven when Andrew was embroiled in the Jeffery Epstein scandal, bringing the entire royal family to crisis point.
Their relationship was finally ‘obliterated’ after Andrew’s 2019 Newsnight, with the Firm having to take action to cut him from royal life, a move that was no doubt painful for the King.
The pair now remain in ‘a state of perpetual conflict’. The fallout from Prince Andrew’s scandal is ‘hubris’ from his younger days, experts claim, with the result being that Charles must ‘manage a lifelong problem’.
Amid the war between the King and his spare, another sibling battle, between Princes William and Harry, would similarly rock the media and lead the pair to sever communication.
The brothers were reportedly close growing up, the shared grief of losing their mother, Princess Diana, in 1997, having drawn them together.
But cracks began to show as they entered their adolescence, with William ‘choosing the path of duty’, while his brother followed ‘a path well worn by spares before him’.
Writer Tom Quinn, said Harry was drawn to a ‘playboy lifestyle’, adding that he ‘didn’t want to chose the dutiful role, that one was taken’.
Salacious tabloid features of Harry partying till the early hours were by some, seen as damaging to the Firm’s reputation, but taken to more kindly by the public who believed he should be allowed to ‘let loose’ following his early childhood trauma.
Harry seemed to later redeem himself with military service – but a later romance with Meghan Markle, though initially positive, would be the final nail in the coffin for the brothers’ relationship.
William was said to be apprehensive about the speed at which the romance developed, a concern that only deepened and added further strain to their relationship when Harry and Meghan married in 2018.
‘William was aware that Meghan was changing Harry,’ commented Quinn. ‘He didn’t trust him not to do something that would seriously damage the family.’
Then, in a landmark moment that would leave a lasting mark on the brother’s relationship, Harry and Meghan surrendered all royal duties in 2020, and Harry embarked on a royal onslaught of the royals.
This included a scathing interview with Oprah Winfrey, the release of his best-selling memoir, Spare, and his more recent interview with the BBC.
The ‘divisive and confronting’ book drove a further wedge between the pair. ‘I don’t think he’s aware that the things he says will have an effect on his brother,’ Quinn remarked.
Continued swipes from Harry at his brother and the Firm, have left their relationship in tatters, with little hope for future reconciliation.
However, it remains to be seen, with recent reports of seemingly thawing dynamics between the Duke of Sussex and his father King Charles – both of whom enjoyed their first face to face meeting in over a year last month.
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Disclaimer: This news article has been republished exactly as it appeared on its original source, without any modification.
We do not take any responsibility for its content, which remains solely the responsibility of the original publisher.
Author: uaetodaynews
Published on: 2025-10-14 14:59:00
Source: uaetodaynews.com