‘No amount of hurt’ between Prince Harry and Prince William could have impacted Diana statue unveiling, says Finding Freedom

‘Both brothers are deeply devoted to carrying on their mother’s legacy’ a friend of Harry says

Carrying on Princess Diana’s legacy is an “absolute priority” for both Prince William and Prince Harry regardless of hurt feelings between them, biography Finding Freedom has claimed.

The biography, written by royal commentators Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, consults a number of unnamed sources as it charts the last 12 months of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s lives.

But the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have said that the authors do not speak for them, and that they did not authorise the book.

A friend of Prince Harry told Finding Freedom’s authors that the brothers put the reported rift between them aside for the unveiling of a statue in memory of their late mother last month.

On 1 July, Harry and William reunited at Kensington Palace to mark what would have been Princess Diana’s 60th birthday. Diana died at the age of 36 in August 1997 in Paris.

Harry’s friend, who was not named, told Scobie and Durand that “both brothers are deeply devoted to carrying on their mother’s legacy and no amount of hurt feelings would ever get in the way of that”.

“It is an absolute priority and even amidst this other stuff, they simply wouldn’t proceed without one another together,” they added.

In a joint statement at the time, Harry and William said they hope the statue will “be seen forever as a symbol of [Diana’s] life and her legacy”.

“Today, on what would have been our mother’s 60th birthday, we remember her love, strength and character - qualities that made her a force for good around the world, changing countless lives for the better,” they said.

The statue’s unveiling was the first time the brothers were seen together in public since Prince Philip’s funeral in April, just over a month after Harry alluded to a rift between them during an interview with Oprah Winfrey.

In March, he told Winfrey “the relationship is space at the moment”.

“As I’ve said before, I love William to bits,” he said. “He’s my brother. We’ve been through hell together. We have a shared experience, but we were on different paths.”

In Finding Freedom, the authors write that although William “was understood to be ‘furious’ that private family matters were being discussed in the public domain” following the controversial interview, Harry has made “progress” in mending his relationship with the royal family.

One anonymous source told the authors that Harry’s visit to the UK for his grandfather’s funeral had “broken the ice”, while another said there had been “efforts on all sides”.