Prince William's 'great loss' as one royal set to have no role when he becomes King

As first-in-line to the throne, Prince William will no doubt be thinking about what life will look like for him when he becomes King one day. While The Prince of Wales, 43, has spoken very little about his plans for the monarchy when the time comes, one royal expert believes that he will already have some idea as to which senior royals he wants by his side as monarch.

Like his father King Charles, it is likely William will keep to the idea of a slimmed-down monarchy. However, it is believed that he will bring some members of the Royal Family more into the fold than they currently are, especially when it comes to his cousin Zara Tindall.

This is likely to compensate for the "great loss" William will experience by not having one key royal by his side when he takes to the throne - his estranged brother, Prince Harry.

While the brothers were once close, with Harry expected to play a bigger role than ever before in the monarchy under Prince William, this is now no longer the case, with the prince having quit life as a royal in 2020.

Since then, Harry seems to have fractured a lot of his royal relationships by making various claims and accusations about royal life, with his 2023 memoir Spare seeing the rumoured end of his relationship with his brother William.

Speaking of how Harry features in William's plans for his future role as King, former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond told the Mirror: "I don't think Harry figures in William's plans at all.

"It is a very sad situation because Harry was his wingman and would have been the brother he could rely on when he takes on the very heavy responsibility of being King."

She continued: "Harry would have had an extremely senior role and been the sibling, friend, supporter and sounding board that the Princess Royal is now to her brother King Charles.

"It is a great loss for William, but one which I think he has now accepted."

William has never publicly addressed the rumoured rift with his brother, who now lives in the US, with the pair reportedly no longer on speaking terms.

Harry addressed the rift briefly in an interview with the BBC last month, in which he said: "I would love reconciliation with my family. There's no point continuing to fight any more, life is precious."