Prince William, Kate Middleton trying to protect daughter Charlotte from ‘spare’ struggles Harry endured

Prince William and Kate Middleton are reportedly trying to protect their daughter, Princess Charlotte, from the struggles Prince Harry has endured as the “spare” heir to the British throne.

Royal biographer Robert Hardman weighed in on how the Prince and Princess of Wales are handling 10-year-old Charlotte’s reality of being third in line to the throne behind her older brother, 11-year-old Prince George.

“The late Queen [Elizabeth II] was always very conscious of that extraordinary and challenging role of the No. 2,” Hardman told People in an interview published Wednesday.

“That’s why she had a particular soft spot for [her sister] Margaret, for [her son] Andrew and [grandson] Harry,” Harman continued. “She understood being second place in a strictly hierarchical family and institution has its challenges. Everyone is conscious of that.” 

“The Making of a King” author explained how William has a duty to prepare — not only for himself to become king one day, but to also “make the whole royal existence approachable and not scary for all his children.”

William, 42, and Middleton, 43, also share son Prince Louis, 7, who is fourth in line to the throne.

Like Charlotte, Harry was born as the second in line to the British throne before being relegated to the fifth spot upon the births of his nephews and niece.

In his whiney 2023 memoir “Spare,” Harry claimed that his father, King Charles III, referred to him as the “spare” heir when he was born — a.k.a. the backup plan if William didn’t make it there.

“I was the shadow, the support, the Plan B. I was brought into the world in case something happened to Willy,” Harry wrote.

The Duke of Sussex, 40, expressed how being the “spare” led to tension with his brother — a rivalry that has only grown stronger with age.

“My family had declared me a nullity. The Spare. I didn’t complain about it, but I didn’t need to dwell on it either,” he wrote. “Far better, in my mind, not to think about certain facts… but no one gave a damn whom I traveled with; the Spare could always be spared.”

William and Middleton are apparently trying to avoid having their daughter feel tossed aside in the same way that Harry feels — an issue that reached its pinnacle when he felt compelled to resign from his royal duties in 2020.

Harry and wife Meghan Markle, 43, subsequently moved to California where they now reside with their two kids: Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 3.

The renegade royal has been estranged from his family since making the move — though he admitted this week to being desperate for a reconciliation.