Since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s abrupt departure as senior working members of the Royal Family in March 2020, Prince Philip’s funeral in April 2021 was the first time that Harry and his family have reunited. Now that the brothers did reunite again for Princess Diana’s statue unveiling on July 1, many royal fans are anticipating the brothers to put their ‘royal rift’ behind them.

The already tense relationship between Harry, Prince William, and the rest of the family ignited further after Harry and Markle sat down with Oprah Winfrey for a controversial interview in March. During the television special, the couple openly criticized the royal family and its culture.

While the royal family released a comment following the interview, there have been continued reports of a rift between Harry and the rest, especially his brother Prince William. The currently fraught relationship between the brothers had reportedly thawed a little after the funeral service for their grandfather, the late Prince Philip when they were seen chatting together. News outlets also report that Kate Middleton may have helped to calm the rift.

With Princess Diana’s statue unveiling, many fans were curious if the brotherly tension would cause issues or fall to the side during the event. The brothers have reportedly been texting about England’s win in the soccer game on Tuesday, and now one royal expert, Angela Levin, has said that Harry is competing with his brother William and father Charles in terms of how to be a better royal and more like the late Princess Diana.

Nearly 25 years after Princess Diana’s funeral, Prince William and Harry have come together to pay tribute to their mother in a final completion of a project that started back in 2017. There have currently been tensions between Prince Harry and Meghan and the rest of the royal family due to their bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview, followed by their role in the Apple+ Docuseries “The Me You Can’t See.”

The official unveiling of the statue was Harry’s first time seeing his family since Prince Philip’s funeral in mid-April. An official “Sussex source” revealed to Harper’s Bazaar that Meghan Markle wouldn’t be joining her husband for the event and will focus on caring for the couple’s infant daughter, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, at their Montecito home instead.

The Mirror had initially reported that Kate would help her husband Prince William and his brother Harry put on a united front for the occasion. However, new reports showed that Kate had been removed from the guestlist for the unveiling. The Sun reported that this meant that Harry and William met without a “peacemaker” around them.

Harry and William had only been communicating by text amid a bitter fallout. The historic win by England on Tuesday against Germany might be inadvertently helping the brothers overcome their difficulties. The first win against Germany in a world cup game in 55 years had sparked the pair texting each other about soccer, according to The Daily Mail.

Now that the statue unveiling has passed, royal expert Angela Levin has said that Harry’s speech at the event shows that he’s willing to compete with his brother William and father Charles. According to The Sun, Levin said that the Duke of Sussex is adopted a “very different way, a Californian way,” of being a royal and honoring Princess Diana.

According to The Sun, royal biographer Levin told The Andrew Pierce Show that Harry is “fed up of being spare to the heir” and is willing to compete with his closest family members just to prove he is better at fulfilling Diana’s legacy. She said:

“I think all this laying down laws is part of his determination to be a royal but in a very different way, a Californian way, where he is the person who is going to continue Diana’s work more than anyone.”

Levin went on to discuss how some of Harry’s words even surprised her:

“I was quite shocked when he was saying, ‘there’s a large part of Diana in me and she thought the world would be changed by youth, and she loved the youth, and Meghan and I are doing exactly this. I thought hang on, he’s making the speech that puts William second.”

Harry and William did go as far as to issue a joint statement after the statue unveiling that said they remember Diana’s “love, strength and character — qualities that made her a force for good around the world.” However, many royal fans are still skeptical that the brothers have truly ended their feud. Even Levin weighed in on the statement:

“I’m delighted to see they did a short, moving joint statement, but there’s so much that’s gone on. I think it’s because he’s fed up with being the spare to the heir and he wants to be strong and powerful so he’s making these demands, small and not so small, and he’s going to build up his capacity to do that I fear. He’s competing with his brother and his father to be the better royal and more like Diana.”