Prince William's birthday photo by Princess Kate, who are his friends, will he reconcile with Prince Harry?

In honour of Prince William’s 43rd birthday, Kensington Palace has released a new photograph of him playing with his new puppies. The photograph, like last year, was taken by Catherine, Princess of Wales, and it was taken in Windsor earlier this month.

The photo of Prince William and the puppies was shared on the Instagram account for the Prince and Princess of Wales and the caption read: “Happy birthday! Love C, G, C, L, Orla and the puppies! 🐾.”

Although there was no official announcement, in May it was revealed that the couple’s dog Orla had given birth to four puppies. A source told The Sun that“Mother and babies are doing well,” and an insider said: “We always thought the patter of tiny feet in the Wales’s household had ended, so the sound of tiny paws will have to do.”

The Prince and Princess of Wales were left bereft when their dog Lupo died unexpectedly in 2020 and before he died, the Princess of Wales’s brother James Middleton had given them a new cocker spaniel, Orla.

A friend told the Mail on Sunday at the time that “The new puppy is adorable and the whole family are besotted.”

“They were devastated when Lupo passed away, as any dog owner will understand, but got the new puppy before he died. It was hoped that a younger dog would give Lupo some company and give him a little more life and energy.”

Orla is an important part of the Prince and Princess of Wales’s family life and she featured in the video last September when Catherine, Princess of Wales, revealed that her chemotherapy treatment had come to an end.

The Prince and Princess of Wales have not revealed how Prince William will be spending his 43rd birthday, but like previous years, is likely to be enjoying the day privately with his family. Prince William has spoken about how difficult the last year has been as both his wife, Catherine, Princess of Wales and his father King Charles have undergone treatment for cancer.

When it comes to his close friends, Prince William made William van Cutsem an adviser for the Duchy estate last year. William Van Cutsem, who is known as 'VC' to friends, is Prince George's godfather. William’s father Hugh, who died in 2013, had been a friend of King Charles.

Another close friend of Prince William’s is James ‘Badger’ Meade, the pair went to Eton College together and William was an usher at his wedding to Lady Laura Marsham in 2013, the couple are both godparents to Princess Charlotte.

Prince William is also friends withThomas van Straubenzee, who went to Ludgrove School with both Princes William and Harry. In 2020, he married for the second time to Lucy Lanigan-O'Keeffe, who had been Princess Charlotte’s teacher at St Thomas’s school in London’s Battersea.

Will Prince William and Prince Harry ever reconcile?

It is not known whether Prince Harry will call Prince William on his 43rd birthday, the last time the brothers were seen in public together was at their late grandmother’s funeral in 2022. Although the brothers have a very difficult relationship currently, there were once very close and in a resurfaced clip filmed for Prince Harry’s 21st birthday, he said: “He is the one person on this earth who, I can actually really, you know, we can talk about anything and we understand each other and give each other support and everything's fine.”

Last year, in the two-part docuseries Prince William: We Can End Homelessness, Prince William spoke about how their late mother Princess Diana took them to the Passage, a U.K. charity for the homeless, when they were very young. Prince William said: “My mother took me to the Passage; she took Harry and I both there. I must have been 11 at the time, maybe 10.”

Prince William also said: “I had never been to anything like that before, and I was a bit anxious about what to expect.”

At this stage, a reconciliation between Princes William and Harry seems increasingly unlikely.