Prince William has “effectively lost his brother” Harry after years of tensions and disagreements and his life could “hardly be more stressful”, a friend has claimed.

The Prince of Wales has faced “a uniquely difficult situation” in 2024 due to a number of reasons including his relationship with the Duke of Sussex. Other issues William has had to face include his wife Catherine’s cancer diagnosis and the fact that his father, King Charles, was also diagnosed with the disease.

According to a friend, William has been trying “to keep the show on the road” as key members of the Royal Family battle health issues. The claims have been made in the updated version of the royal biography “Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story” by writer Robert Hardman.

As reported by the Mail on Sunday, the author wrote: “However, there remained, right across the wider royal circle and among the public at large, a strong sense that the Prince had been in a uniquely difficult situation in 2024.” Mr Hardman quoted a friend of William who said: “He’s lost his mother, he’s effectively lost his brother, his wife’s got cancer, his father’s got cancer and he’s trying to keep the show on the road. It could hardly be more stressful.”

In the book, the writer claimed that one member of the Royal Household was “particularly struck” when William headed to Omaha Beach in Normandy to attend a moving ceremony to honour the heroes of D-Day earlier this year. The prince joined world leaders including US president Joe Biden, France’s Emmanuel Macron and Canada’s Justin Trudeau while representing the UK in the absence of King Charles and the Prime Minister.

A source said William “looked entirely comfortable and statesmanlike” during the events as they added: “We know about his commitment to duty and service. But what you’ve seen since the start of this year, more than ever, is the Prince of Wales’s strength of character.”

During his “difficult” year, William’s staff said he has been “buoyed by small things” such as when he took Prince George and Princess Charlotte to see Taylor Swift at Wembley. Their selfie with the pop star accumulated more than nine million likes in a day on social media. Mr Hardman’s book, featuring these new claims, is set to be published on November 7.

The new claims that William “lost” his brother come as the siblings have been locked in a well-publicised spat, with Harry laying bare in his explosive memoir Spare that William is both his “beloved brother and arch nemesis.” However, earlier this week William mentioned his brother by name for the first time in six years in a documentary about homelessness.

Speaking on “Prince William: We Can End Homelessness”, the heir to the throne credited his mother, Princess Diana, with igniting his passion for charity work after she introduced him and Harry to a homeless shelter in their youth. Highlighting this dedication, William then shared images of himself and Harry and explicitly said his brother’s name. On Daily Mail’s Palace Confidential, editor at large Richard Kay suggested this was a deliberate move.

Richard, once a close friend of Princess Diana and who co-wrote her biography, said: “Well, you could easily take that latter view that he can’t not mention [Harry’s name]. How could he separate Harry and him from something which his mother took them both to.

“But I think there is something calculated and I think it is an olive branch. A few months ago, we had a story – sadly didn’t turn out to be quite right that William had made another gesture towards Harry. And they pushed back very firmly on this and they didn’t want the newspaper to run the story, which we didn’t. But this time, I think there is something in the wind here.”

He went on to say: “Now, whether we can divine too much about what this means for the future, but we know from all the mood music from California that Harry is desperate to try and build some bridges with his family here again and maybe this is a sign that the family are listening.” A TikTok clip posted by the Daily Mail saw excited followers expressing their views in the comments section. A user commented: “I’m glad these two brothers are on the road to reconciliation. They have been through a lot and I hope it’s a road of healing for the both of them.”