There is a big difference between hating someone and simply reaching the point where having that person constantly involved in your life brings more stress, more headlines and more drama than peace, and that may be the uncomfortable reality behind Prince William and Prince Harry’s deeply fractured relationship.

For years, the brothers’ estrangement has been described in increasingly dramatic terms. There has been speculation that William cannot forgive Harry and that their relationship has deteriorated beyond repair. But perhaps the explanation is much simpler. Perhaps William does not hate Harry at all. Perhaps he is simply exhausted by the cycle.

Harry has repeatedly found himself back in the spotlight discussing his childhood, his relationship with the Royal Family, his mother’s death, his disagreements with his father and brother, and the roles he and William were born into. Even when Harry is not directly attacking anyone, the attention surrounding him often returns to the same unresolved family tensions.

And one brutally blunt comment from a California associate quoted by the Daily Mail seems to capture the problem in just seven words: “They aren’t relevant unless they are causing trouble.”

The remark was made about Harry and Meghan Markle and should be understood as the opinion of that source, not an established fact, but it raises an uncomfortable question about the Sussexes’ relationship with the endless cycle of royal controversy.

Because from William’s perspective, the problem may not be that Harry is his enemy. The problem may simply be that Harry has become associated with a level of public drama that William no longer wants anywhere near his private life.

William can love Harry as his brother without wanting Harry to be his close friend. The two things are not mutually exclusive. Families can remain families even when relationships change, and two brothers can care about each other while deciding that distance is healthier than constantly trying to recreate the relationship they had when they were younger.

William has built a completely different life around Catherine, Princess of Wales, and their children, while carrying the enormous responsibility of preparing for his future role as King. His world is now centered on his family, his responsibilities and the institution he will eventually inherit.

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Harry, meanwhile, continues to generate enormous interest whenever his relationship with the Royal Family comes back into the conversation.

That is why the recent return to Britain has been so revealing. Instead of quietly disappearing into the background, Harry’s presence has once again become part of a larger royal story involving Charles, William, Meghan, security, the Sussexes’ status and the unresolved family feud.

Royal commentator Amanda Foreman previously described the relationship between the brothers as having moved from a “hot war” to a “very, very cold war,” a description that reflects just how little appears to have changed despite years passing.

Yet a cold war is still a war, and perhaps William has simply decided he does not want to keep fighting it. There is also something deeply human about that decision.

Imagine having every disagreement with a sibling potentially become material for television interviews, books, documentaries, newspaper headlines and endless public debate. Imagine knowing that a private family argument from decades ago can suddenly become relevant again because someone decides to discuss it publicly.

Eventually, even love may not be enough to make someone want to keep participating.

That does not necessarily mean William wants Harry to suffer. It does not mean he wants his brother gone forever. And it certainly does not prove that he hates him.

It may simply mean that William has reached a point where peace matters more than reconciliation at any cost.

The California associate’s comment is particularly interesting because it puts the entire Sussex saga in a different light: if Harry and Meghan are most talked about when they are involved in royal controversy, then perhaps the most powerful thing William can do is refuse to participate.

No public war. No angry response. No dramatic counterattack. Just silence. And that may be exactly what has happened.

William does not have to erase Harry from his heart to remove him from the center of his life. He does not have to stop loving his brother in order to stop being his friend. He does not have to pretend the past never happened simply because the world wants a royal reconciliation.

Harry may always be William’s brother. But being brothers does not mean they have to be friends, speak every day or remain trapped in the same arguments forever.

Perhaps the distance is not William’s punishment for Harry. Perhaps, after everything that has happened, it is simply William choosing peace.