As he cheered uproariously and threw his arms around his mates in celebration while sharing the moment with his young son, Prince William’s ‘boys’ night out’ to watch Aston Villa in Paris delighted royal fans, but may have been uncomfortable viewing for one person.
As the father-of-three, 42, watched his beloved club in the nail-biting Champions League quarter-final first leg – which PSG won 3-1 – the future King was surrounded by decades-old friends of the family.
Pictured at the Parc des Princes, hugging young George and hollering in tandem with an excited William were Thomas von Straubenzee, 42, and William van Cutsem, 45 (nicknamed ‘VC’).
Both were boyhood friends with William and Harry and their families have remained closely entwined since, from high society events to charity partnerships, to godparent duties – and being ushers at each others’ weddings.
But after the Duke of Sussex made a dramatic move to Montecito in 2020, and laid bare his grievances with the family in a tell-all memoir, Spare; his connections with old friends have suffered alongside the well-documented rift with his family.
Thomas is known as William’s best friend and in the wake of Megxit, sources said the future King was leaning on his old pal for support while Harry turned to another Van Straubenzee brother, Charlie.
Meanwhile, Harry himself confirmed in his memoir Spare that he’d experienced a rift with some members of the van Cutsem family who didn’t approve of his tell-all Oprah interview.
Seeing his brother enjoying himself with their old pals will have caused an even greater sting, coming just days after Harry skipped the wedding of his close friend Lord Vivian even though he was in London just days later for his Court of Appeal hearing regarding security provisions.
Prince William was surrounded by old friends – including Thomas von Straubenzee, 42, pictured left
William van Cutsem, 45 (popularly nicknamed ‘VC’), who is George’s godfather (pictured far right) was also in attendance
But as the Duke of Sussex (pictured this week) distanced himself from The Firm with a dramatic move to Montecito in 2018, and laid bare his grievances with the family in a tell-all memoir, Spare; it appears past connections seem to be firmly in camp Windsor
In Spare, Prince Harry detailed how Thomas (pictured) acted as William’s real best man at his 2011 wedding to Kate, delivering the traditional speech with James Meade
The Duke cut a lonely figure on the visit, during which he didn’t see his father King Charles or appear to catch up with any of his old circle of friends, which once included Thomas and VC as key members.
The van Straubenzees have often been described as being like a second family to William and Harry, and Claire and Alex – the boys’ parents – provided a retreat for the royal brothers during the ‘war of the Waleses’ (Charles and Diana’s very public, and painful divorce).
Harry was particularly close to Thomas’s late brother Henry who became the royal’s best friend after they met at their prep school, Ludgrove Prep in Berkshire.
‘Skinny, with no muscles, and hair that stood up in permanent surrender, Henners was all heart,’ he wrote affectionately of ‘Henners’. ‘Whenever he smiled, people melted.’
The Duke said in his book that Henry was the only boy who asked him about his mother Princess Diana after she died in 1997. Tragically, he himself passed away in a car crash at the age of 18.
In Spare, Harry described how the news of Henry’s death had terrible echoes of the moment that his father, then Prince Charles, told him that his mother had died. He noted how, ‘just like Mummy’, Henry was not wearing a seatbelt.
Thomas is also godfather to Princess Charlotte, and William is godfather to his daughter Mary, who Thomas has with his second wife Lucy Lanigan-O’Keeffe. William and Thomas pictured in 2005
Prince Harry pictured with old friends Charlie and Thomas van Straubenzee at a rugby match in 2015
Harry also is godfather to Charlie’s four-year-old daughter Clover and, in turn, Charlie is godfather to Prince Archie, five. Both pictured in 2015
Harry and William had been active patrons of The Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund, playing polo to help fundraise and attending its annual Christmas carol concert in Chelsea. Pictured in 2008, marking its launch
‘The news must have come in the form of a phone call, though I only dimly recall holding the phone, hearing the words,’ he wrote.
Both princes attended the funeral, and Harry recalled how he queued up to hug Henry’s parents and his friend’s two brothers.
Harry and William had been active patrons of The Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund, playing polo to help fundraise and attending its annual Christmas carol concert in Chelsea.
In December 2014, standing side by side, they gave a joint tribute to Henry.
They said he was ‘a very special friend to us, who we share so many happy childhood memories with’.
At a private carol service in 2018, Harry delivered an address and Meghan, who he’d married that spring, gave a reading.
The Van Cutsems are too very close to both brothers – with VC being Prince George’s godfather. William and VC pictured in 2023
VC, pictured left, was among the old pals who attended the game along with William (right) and his son Prince George
In December 2022, despite being estranged, the princes signed a joint letter to mark the 20th anniversary of Henry’s death.
Thomas’s brother Charlie appears to still be close to Harry, and both himself and Thomas were ushers at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding in 2018, where Charlie gave a speech at the reception.
Harry also is godfather to Charlie’s four-year-old daughter Clover and, in turn, Charlie is godfather to Prince Archie, five. The pair were also seen cycling around the Californian neighbourhood in May 2022.
However Thomas – often described as the Prince of Wales’s best friend – is likely to have divided loyalties over the princes’ rift.
He and the Duke were close to one another in the 2010s, and when Thomas was in 2012 mugged in Stockwell, south London – it was Harry he was on the phone to when his Nokia phone was snatched.
In 2015, he accompanied Harry and his brother Charlie to a rugby match.
However, there seem to be no public joint appearances of the duo since – while Thomas has been seen by William’s side aplenty, both at the football and other gatherings, such as the Duke of Westminster’s wedding.
Rumours of a falling out started brewing five years ago, when VC’s sister-in-law Rosie Astor – who married his brother Hugh van Cutsem in 2005 – offended Harry and Meghan by seemingly mocking their announcement that they intend to ‘step back’ as senior members of the Royal Family. Hugh (left), Harry and William in 2004
VC and Prince William – whose families have been linked for decades – pictured together in 2010
In Spare, Prince Harry detailed how Thomas acted as William’s real best man at his 2011 wedding to Kate, delivering the traditional speech with James Meade.
Thomas is also godfather to Princess Charlotte, and William is godfather to his daughter Mary, who Thomas has with his second wife Lucy Lanigan-O’Keeffe.
Lucy is one of Princess Charlotte’s former teachers at Thomas’s in Battersea.
The van Cutsems are too very close to both brothers – with VC being Prince George’s godfather.
As a chartered surveyor, he specialises in logistics, renew-able businesses and building storage facilities across Britain.
William inherited the 130,000-acre Duchy Estate when his father, King Charles, acceded the throne in September 2022. In the Duchy’s annual report, VC is said to have a ‘keen interest in regenerative farming practices within the family’s home and farming businesses’. The two men own country homes 20 miles apart in Norfolk.
In 2013, VC married Rosie Ruck Keene, and William served as an usher.
However, it’s possible that the family’s links to Harry may be thinning.
Rumours of a falling out started brewing five years ago, when VC’s sister-in-law Rosie Astor – who married his brother Hugh van Cutsem in 2005 – offended Harry and Meghan by seemingly mocking their announcement that they intend to ‘step back’ as senior members of the Royal Family.
‘I am standing back as a senior member of my tax return,’ Rose wrote on social media, ‘because I’d rather drink coffee, see my friends, love my family and do yoga.’
She later declined to discuss her comments, explaining: ‘I’m so sorry, I can’t say anything. I’m sure you understand. I’m going to be in so much trouble.’
Hugh is particularly close to Prince William, with the royal being a senior usher at Hugh and Rose’s wedding in 2005.
The Prince of Wales is also the godfather to the couple’s daughter Grace, who was a bridesmaid at William and Catherine’s wedding in 2011; she became known as the little girl who covered her ears on the Buckingham Palace balcony because of the noise of the cheering crowds as the newlyweds kissed.
Hugh and Rose had Meghan and Harry over to dinner at their house in West London after she moved to the UK from America, and also attended the royal couple’s wedding in 2018.
However, Harry confirmed his rift with the van Cutsems in his 2023 memoir, Spare, revealing that Hugh’s mother, Emilie, and one of her four sons had contacted him to voice their fury after his explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey.
The Duke wrote: ‘Several close mates and beloved figures in my life, including one of Hugh and Emilie’s sons, Emilie herself, and even Tiggy [Pettifer, his former nanny], had chastised me for Oprah. How could you reveal such things? About your family?’
Hugh has known the royal family his whole life, with his late father, also named Hugh, being one of Charles’s dearest friends.
Hugh van Cutsem became a friend of King Charles III during his university days at Cambridge. He went on to be a Life Guards officer and bloodstock breeder.
His father – Bernard van Cutsem – trained horses for Queen Elizabeth II as a horsebreeder and racehorse trainer.
His son Hugh is now chairman of The British Deer Society – most recently seen on Clarkson’s Farm stalking deer with the star of the Amazon Prime show, Clarkson.
The presenter’s notorious article about Meghan saw him reveal how he hated the Duchess of Sussex on ‘a cellular level’ and wanted to see her paraded through the streets naked while people threw excrement at her.
It’s a connection that’s not likely to impress Harry, who reportedly ‘distanced’ himself from close cousin and ‘ally’ Princess Eugenie after their relationship ‘soured’ when she was photographed having dinner with Piers Morgan – another of the Duchess’s critics.