KATE & HARRY BURY THE HATCHET

Despite ongoing family drama, the once-close friends are hoping to rebuild their relationship

No matter how tense things became between princes William and Harry, one thing remained true – the Duchess of Cambridge only ever wanted the royal brothers to find peace.

After all, no one was more welcoming toward Kate when she joined the Mountbatten-Windsor fold as an outsider than her surrogate “little brother” Harry.

So when Harry and his family jetted in to London last week, Kate, 40, knew this was her big chance to help heal the brothers’ rift – and get her old partner in crime back.

“Kate misses Harry terribly,” says a source. “He was always such fun when he was living with them at Kensington Palace. He was a regular at their dinner table for pizza nights and Sunday lunch, and was forever leaving her in stitches of laughter. She finds that’s what she’s missed the most ever since the boys fell out.”

Harry, 37, meanwhile, has long described Kate as “the sister I never had”.

It’s believed that Kate has tried valiantly to keep their friendship alive even after the family relations became fractured and Harry moved with his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, 40, and son Archie, now three, to California.

“Kate wrote and sent gifts for Archie and again for little Lilibet when she was born,” says a source. “Harry always appreciated that. He also appreciated Kate keeping him company at Prince Philip’s funeral last year when the rest of the family wouldn’t go near him. When it was just him and Kate chatting away, it felt like old times.”