It is well-known that Prince William and Prince Harry have been in a rift for the last few years, however it appears this is not the only time the once-close brothers have fallen out.

According to The Mirror, Prince William emotionally hurt his younger brother Harry with a brutal comment when they both attended Eton College.

In September 1998 when Harry was old enough to move to the prestigious school where his brother William was studying, the Duke of Sussex said that he had been excited to be close to his sibling again until William made one comment to him.

In his memoir Spare, Harry admitted that his older brother did not feel the same, which left him feeling hurt and confused.

In an interview promoting his book, Harry sat down with 60 Minutes’ Anderson Cooper and claimed his brother rejected him when he moved to the college in Windsor.

Cooper said to Harry: “Your brother told you, ‘Pretend we don’t know each other’.”

Recalling the incident, Harry said: “Yeah, and at the time it hurt. I couldn’t make sense of it. I was like, ‘What do you mean? We’re now at the same school. Like, I haven’t seen you for ages, now we get to hang out together.’

“He’s like, ‘No, no, no, when we’re at school we don’t know each other.’ And I took that personally.”

The Duke, who will be turning 40 on Sunday, since admitted that he now understands what Prince William meant.

He told ITV: “I get how irritating the younger sibling can be to the older sibling. “But in the moment, at the time, I didn’t – I didn’t really grasp that, I didn’t really realise it, but yes, I’ve always loved my brother.”