Britain's Prince William and Britain's Prince Harry walk beside each other. Photo / AP
Britain's Prince William and Britain's Prince Harry walk beside each other. Photo / AP
He has been billed as “the one man who could fix Harry and William’s feud”. Once dubbed a “second dad” to the teenagers in the wake of Princess Diana’s death, he guided them through adolescence and beyond. Fierce but fair, he not only protected and nurtured them, he gained and maintained their trust.
It is no mean feat to broker peace between warring Princes but if anyone can, it is Mark “Marko” Dyer. And now, as Harry flies home after visiting his father after his first cancer treatment, all eyes are on this respected backroom figure to once again do his bit for King and country.
His Majesty was, of course, tired. William, currently running the show, did not meet with him. He pointedly stayed (was obliged to stay?) in a hotel rather than any of the royal residences. All the same, Harry’s cameo appearance did seem performatively brief – can he really not bear Britain any more?
Still, hope springs eternal, which is why there is so much pressure on Dyer to engineer some sort of conciliation between the estranged siblings for the next time Harry touches down to visit “Pa”.
Prince William with Royal Equerry Mark Dyer. Photo / Getty Images
Dyer, 56, a former Welsh Guards Officer, who was previously an equerry to the King in the 1990s, and has himself battled cancer in recent years, enjoys the unique distinction of having been a mentor, a listening ear and a trusted confidant to both brothers as they grew into men, now aged 41 and 39 respectively.
A striking figure with a shock of red hair, Dyer was charged with the task of providing no-nonsense pastoral care and to that end would visit William at boarding school in Eton and helped foster Harry’s romantic relationships by shielding the impetuous young prince from prying photographers.
The pair later travelled together to Australia, Argentina and Lesotho during Harry’s gap year, leading the royal biographer Penny Junor to describe Dyer as one of the “few people who can talk some sense into him”.
In her book Prince Harry: Brother, Soldier, Son, written to commemorate his 30th birthday in 2014, she wrote: “Mark Dyer had been invaluable; he had done a superb job in supporting and guiding both Princes through their adolescence and showing them something of the world.”
Dyer had left royal service by then but his legacy and his loyalty continued even as he forged a career in hospitality. Personable and astute, in 2009 he successfully established and ran a chain of pubs, before selling them just eight years later for more than £10 million ($20.6m). Prince Harry was an usher at his wedding in 2010, a compliment returned when he wed Meghan at Windsor Castle in 2018.
Mark Dyer attends the Sentebale Audi Concert at Hampton Court Palace. Photo / Getty Images
His son Jasper, who served as a page boy, is Prince Harry’s godson. Dyer became godfather to the couple’s son, Archie, born in 2019. Their closeness is not in dispute.
Yet interestingly, in the wake of the couple’s departure, as shocked courtiers, dismayed friends and heavy-hearted family quietly aligned themselves with Team Sussex or Team Wales (formerly Team Cambridge), Dyer’s strong links with Harry, the prodigal prince, have not rendered him persona non grata.
Those in the know say there’s no sign that he has been ostracised by William as has happened to others, most notably the ITV journalist and newsreader Tom Bradby.
A friend of both princes for two decades, Bradby was unceremoniously dropped by the heir to the throne after he gave a sympathetic hearing to Harry and Meghan, starting with the infamous An African Journey documentary in 2019, which laid the groundwork for their departure from Britain a few months later.
No such fate appears to have befallen Dyer. While he may not speak to William directly, it is understood he is something of a conduit through which Harry stays in touch with family members and friends in the UK.
“As a former equerry, Dyer understands the way royal life works and that is important,” says one unnamed insider. “Before, Kate would have acted as peacemaker but she’s now incapacitated, and having been on the receiving end of one too many Sussex salvos she is understandably less inclined to broker a rapprochement.”
It is Dyer’s straight-bat reputation that puts him in a pivotal position post-Megxit – a term that increasingly thin-skinned Harry regards as slur, rather than a jolly portmanteau.
Mark Dyer arrives for the wedding ceremony of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Photo / AP
If only he had consulted Marko about this and so much else; like the optics of a filial visit that appeared so perfunctory it was over before it had begun. But he clearly did not.
In his incendiary 2023 memoir Spare, Harry wrote fondly of his role model: “Of all Pa’s people there was consensus that Marko was the best. The roughest, the toughest, the most dashing.”
He went on to recount the time when his father dispatched Dyer to grill him at boarding school to “find out the truth” about whether he had been taking drugs. Charles instinctively knew he was not the right person to tackle such a sensitive issue. His worldly equerry took it in his stride.
Then, when his younger son fessed up to smoking cannabis, his father arranged for the shamefaced prince to spend a day at a residential centre for drug users in south London – accompanied by, who else? Marko.
Small wonder they stayed chums. Fast forward to 2022 and Dyer was diagnosed with stomach cancer. After enduring a gruelling 14-hour operation he remained in hospital for six weeks before being discharged.
Last year his niece, the classical soprano Alicia Lowes, told reporters her uncle had “turned the corner and is cancer-free”.
Against this background, Dyer can provide a valuable – if immensely hard-won – insight into the emotional turmoil that the spectre of cancer brings.
A friend, a father, a survivor and a confidant, he alone can give Harry the perspective – the wake-up call – he will need in the weeks and months to come as his father’s cancer treatment continues.
“With Harry over in California away from his old life and family, getting wound up over lawsuits and the press and the list of grievances against his family, there’s a real worry he has forgotten it wasn’t all bad back in Britain,” another royal insider reveals.
“If he can spend time with long-term friends while he’s over here – not necessarily having constant deep and meaningful conversations – but being normal and clearing his head a bit, it would work wonders for the mood.
“And in all of this I think it’s important to remember he’s a man who has already lost his mum and is facing up to his dad’s serious illness. He’s burnt a lot of bridges, but he’ll still need someone like Mark who can talk to him frankly.”
Is brotherly reconciliation, much less forgiveness, even possible? After all, William is famously stubborn and short-tempered. Harry is prickly and defensive.
His memoir was spiked with petty insults and self-pity as he sought to distance himself from his destiny as a “spare” to William, the heir.
Prince William and Prince Harry arrive for the statue unveiling on what would have been Princess Diana's 60th birthday. Photo / AP
It is abundantly clear they no longer share the same vision. But they do share a father who loves them and needs them both by his side. The current health woes besetting the House of Windsor may not affect the fortunes of the Firm but it does affect the future of a family.
If ever Marko’s meritorious mediation skills were needed, it is at this moment. We know it’s a big ask, but bringing his boys together would give the greatest of comfort to our ailing king in his hour of need.
