Prince William mentioned his brother Prince Harry a handful of times in his new ITV documentary Prince William: We Can End Homelessness, leaving many royal fans wondering whether this is the future King’s way of extending an olive branch to his estranged brother in California.

While some believe the mention of Harry’s name when talking about their childhood is a positive sign, with the prince opting not to speak about him publicly for a number of years, one royal expert remains adamant that Prince Harry will not just be able to waltz back into his older brother’s life.

Although they once shared a close bond, strengthened by their joint desires to uphold their mother Princess Diana’s legacy, this became strained after Harry, 40, quit life as a senior member of the Firm in 2020, alongisde wife Meghan Markle.

The relationship was then left in tatters after the duke went on to publish his memoir Spare last year, which painted William in a negative light.

Royal expert Rupert Bell has said that while there could be a chance of the brothers healing their rift one day, the mention of Harry in William’s documentary has no deep meaning, with the duke needing to admit his wrongdoings to win over the forgiveness of William.

Bell said on Kinsey Schofield’s YouTube channel: “It would be odd if he didn’t mention in this documentary, his brother, you know, the back story. I’m sure he’s sad about the breakdown, because they were very close.

“They looked after each other and that’s what’s so sad about it.

“The only way the olive branch is going to happen is if Harry eats some serious humble pie and says I’ve messed up.”

The documentary aired this week on ITV and ITVX followed Prince William’s project Homewards, which aims to make homelessness across the UK “rare” and “unrepeated”.

Throughout the two-part series, mentions of Diana were made as photographs were shown of her taking both her sons to a homeless shelter called The Passage when they were children.

The future King said this has shaped his ambition to try and solve the problem of homelessness, which involves getting to the root causes and bringing all different organisations together to find a long-term solution.

The prince also said that his mother’s approach to teaching him about homelessness has inspired how he talks to his own children about the same issues, claiming he has informed George, Charlotte and Louis of what it means to be homeless when doing the school run.