Brothers William and Harry will never go back to the way things were but Philip's health could bring them closer again, a royal expert has said.
Biographer Angela Levin said there is a chance the princes, who were once very close, could maintain a relationship in the future despite a few stormy weeks which have included Megxit and the Oprah interview.
She said Harry has felt "tremendous" guilt over his brief final phone call with his mum Diana before her death, and he could feel similar regret over the Duke of Edinburgh as he continues his health battle in hospital.
Harry, 36, told Oprah Winfrey there is "space" between the brothers but he hopes time will heal the rift. William told reporters last week that he plans to speak to his younger brother, and there were claims they have exchanged text messages.
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Ms Levin suspects the Duke of Cambridge, 38, was "very upset" when Harry moved to suburban Los Angeles with wife Meghan Markle and their one-year-old son Archie.
The author of Harry: Conversations with the Prince told The Mirror: "I don’t think things will ever go back to the way they once were (between William and Harry) but I think a relationship could be maintained.
"I think William is very upset too that Harry’s gone away because they were very, very close, and I think he can make it up.
"They can have a relationship, but it just won’t be the same.
"When I wrote the biography of Prince Harry he told me that his relationship with Prince William was incredibly close because they had those unique things in common.
"One was to lose their mother at a very young age."
William and Harry's grandfather, Prince Philip, who turns 100 in June, remains in hospital in London after undergoing successful heart surgery and treatment for an infection.
Hospitalised since February 16, he had the procedure for his pre-existing heart condition at St Bartholomew's.
Ms Levin said Philip's health could bring Harry and his family closer.
She said: "I think there is a possibility that if (Philip) improves that Harry will have felt his heart beating for his grandfather more than he expected and see the situation within his family with different eyes.
"Likewise, if his Royal Highness dies (Harry) might feel tremendous waves of guilt that he wasn’t there and that he could have seen him so many times.
"He felt very guilty that his mother’s last telephone call to him when he was up in Scotland with his father over the summer, that he was very busy playing with his cousins and he kept the conversation very short.
"He says he has regretted that forever, and he will regret it forever, because he could have had a longer conversation with his wonderful mother.
"I think he might feel a similar way about Prince Philip."
Brothers 'have been in contact'
Reports have suggested William and Harry have communicated in text messages since the Oprah interview in which Harry and Meghan made allegations of racism within the Royal Family.
The brothers have "been in contact", the Sunday Times reported, amid the latest crisis to engulf the Firm.
In recent days, there has been "some movement" in contact between the brothers, suggesting they may have exchanged messages to arrange a conversation, ITV News royal editor Chris Ship reported.
Last week, sources told Russell Myers, the Mirror's royal editor, that William and Harry are prepared to "put on a united front" and stand together at the unveiling of a statue to their mum, Princess Diana, at Kensington Palace in July.
The statue, commissioned by the siblings, will be revealed in the Sunken Garden on what would have been Diana's 60th birthday.
The event will take place near to Meghan's due date. The 39-year-old Duchess of Sussex is pregnant with a girl and is due to give birth this summer.
The Sussexes and Cambridges last appeared in public together at a Commonwealth Day service on March 9, 2020, as Meghan and Harry quit their roles as senior royals.
In a tell-all watched by at least 28 million TV viewers in the UK and US alone, Harry, joined by Meghan, told Oprah: "As I've said before, I love William to bits. He's my brother.
"We've been through hell together. I mean, we have a shared experience. But we're on different paths."
He added: "The relationship is space at the moment. And time heals all things, hopefully."
The Duke of Sussex also said he felt trapped in the Royal Family, adding: "My father and my brother, they are trapped. They don't get to leave.
"And I have huge compassion for that."
Harry claimed he was cut off financially by his family, and he felt "really let down" by his father, Prince Charles, saying his dad had stopped taking his calls after he left the UK for Canada in 2019.
As William and wife Kate Middleton visited an east London school last Thursday, a reporter asked the Duke of Cambridge if he had spoken to Harry yet.
William replied: "No, I haven't spoken to him yet but I will do."
Harry and Meghan quit as senior working royals in March last year, amid struggles with their roles and intense press attention, and following the duke's rift with his brother.
During their interview with close pal Oprah, the Sussexes made a series of bombshell claims about their time as senior royals.
Former Suits actress Meghan said she had thoughts of suicide and claimed a member of the Royal Family had made a racist comment about Archie's skin colour before he was born in May 2019.
Winfrey asked if her son being "too brown" would be a problem, and Meghan replied: "If that is the assumption you are making, that is a pretty safe one".
She and Harry declined to reveal who had "concerns" about the colour of Archie's skin, but the duke told Oprah off camera that it wasn't the Queen or Philip.
Meghan addressed claims she had made Kate cry during a dress fitting ahead of the royal wedding, and alleged the "reverse" happened and that it was Kate who made her cry.
She claimed Kate "owned it" and apologised with flowers and a note "to take accountability".
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