A royal expert has claimed Prince Harry disliked the idea that his father often turned to his “stable” brother who was less “volatile” when the princes were growing up.

Prince Harry believes his brother, Prince William, has always been seen as the far more reliable prince by his father, according to a royal author.

Author of ‘Scandals of the Royal Palaces: An Intimate Memoir of Royals Behaving Badly’, Tom Quinn, said since Harry was a teenager he always thought King Charles “preferred” William who was less “volatile”.

He told the Mirror: “Harry’s real beef is that he is convinced Charles always preferred William anyway and not just because William is the heir. Harry’s difficulties when he was a teenager and his increasing volatility as an adult terrified Charles who turned to the far more stable, risk-free William.”

The expert added Charles saw William as a “safe pair of hands”. He added: “Charles increasingly saw William as a safe pair of hands and Harry as too emotionally unstable. Deep down Harry knows this and he deeply resents it.”

The distance has grown between Harry and King Charles and Prince William following the Duke stepping down as a working royal in 2020 alongside Meghan Markle, and conducting a series of high-profile interviews detailing his private life within the Royal Family.

Hopes were raised that the royals were starting to fix their relationship after Harry rushed back to the UK after it was announced that Charles had been diagnosed with cancer. However, when Harry returned to the UK for a 10th anniversary service for the Invictus Games at St Paul’s Cathedral in May, there was no meeting between the pair.