One of the biggest media frenzies in recent years has revolved around a supposed feud between Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton. But did it really happen?
The answer can only ever really come from the two women involved, and that’s not exactly a straightforward process when both have been entwined in the royal family.
But no matter what the facts are, the media hasn’t held back from commentating, speculating and fuelling the fire of the alleged rift between Markle and Middleton.
And while there are some confirmed instances of minor disagreements between the two (courtesy of Prince Harry’s explosive memoir Spare), it’s safe to say many of the rumoured disagreements come from the Royal rota potentially blowing things way out of proportion.
Whether it’s an inability to believe that two strong, powerful women can view each other as comrades rather than enemies, or a desire to prove that the Royal family are just as chaotic as any other family, the rumours seemingly just keep coming.
Below, the major (alleged) disagreements that have taken place between Kate and Meghan over the years.
The Tig
As it turns out, the first hints that Meghan Markle would not be comfortable with the protocols and traditions being a member of the Royal family would bring came all the way back in 2014.
In a now-deleted article from Meghan’s blog The Tig, the star addressed the 2011 wedding between the Prince and Princess of Wales, calling the affair ‘pomp’ and criticised the media attention surrounding Princess Kate.
Of course, this is a surprising contradiction considering both Meghan and Harry have maintained that the Suits star had very little or only peripheral knowledge about the Royal family.
The expert was part of a profile she had written on Princess Alia Al Senussi, a descendent of Libyan royalty, and had claimed that rather than the typical princesses children aspire to be when she grows up, she had always dreamt about being the ‘Princess of Power’.
The full excerpt read:
“Little girls dream of being princesses. I, for one, was all about She-Ra, Princess of Power. And grown women seem to retain this childhood fantasy. Just look at the pomp and circumstance surrounding the royal wedding and endless conversation about Princess Kate.”
If only 2014 Meghan was to know the “pomp” and “circumstance” that would surround her own wedding to Prince Harry in the years to come…
Pippa’s Wedding
Back in 2017, prior to Meghan’s engagement with Harry, rumours of a potential rift began to swirl when Meghan was nowhere to be seen at the wedding of Pippa Middleton — Kate’s sister.
At first, it was unclear why Markle would not have been present, but it was later reported that she decided not to attend over a front page headline in The Sun which read: It’s Meghan v Pippa in the…Wedding of the Rears.
According to the biography, Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family, Meghan had carefully planned her wedding outfit to ensure that it was “stylish without being splashy,” but ultimately decided to pull out of the event after the headline regarding the women’s backsides.
“Harry and Meghan agreed that she couldn’t possibly turn up at the church,” the book stated.
“If they worried their arrival might create a media circus despite taking every precaution, now they had no doubt it would.”
Prince William’s doubts
2018 was certainly a tumultuous year, with even more reports emerging that Prince William had apparently expressed doubts over Meghan’s suitability to join the Royal Family.
The Mail On Sunday reported that William voiced his concern to the Queen and his brother ahead of the royal wedding in May, and felt as though things were moving quite quickly between his brother and Markle.
In the same report, it was claimed that a “ghastly row” had broken out between the two couples when Kate had attempted to explain a few Royal rules to Meghan, and it had not been well-received. At the time, Kate reportedly told friends that she was saddened by Harry’s changing demeanour.
Speaking to the same outlet, a source reportedly said that “Meghan’s a strong character and so is Kate, so it doesn’t surprise me there have been clashes”.
The crying incident
Meghan and Harry’s May 2018 wedding wasn’t without it’s drama, with reports emerging that Meghan had made Kate cry over a disagreement about the flower girl’s outfit.
The flower dress feud was first reported by The Telegraph, who claimed that Kate was “in tears” over a “stressful” wedding fitting for her daughter.
But in 2023, the rumour was flipped on its head when Prince Harry shed light on the supposed fight in his explosive tell-all memoir, Spare, where he detailed how neither woman should have been painted as a villain following the private incident.
He explained (with text receipts) that Kate was anxious about Charlotte’s ill-fitting dress, and had texted Meghan telling her it needed to be remade—four days before the wedding.
Meghan told her there was a tailor on-site ready to make the necessary amends, but Kate was adamant.
“I’m not sure what else to say. If the dress doesn’t fit, then please take Charlotte to see Ajay [the tailor]. He’s been waiting all day,” Meghan allegedly texted the now Princess of Wales.
Harry said the incident stressed his soon-to-be wife out so much that he found her on the floor crying. The following day, Kate came around with flowers to apologise to Meghan.
The Duchess of Sussex also discussed the incident in her tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey: “It was a really hard week of the wedding, and she was upset about something, but she owned it and she apologised and she brought me flowers and a note apologising” Meghan told Oprah.
“She did what I would do if I knew that I’d hurt someone, right, to just take accountability for it.”
The move to Frogmore Cottage
In the same tumultuous year (yes, we’re still talking about 2018), rumours emerged that Harry and Meghan would be moving far away from Will and Kate, out of the grounds of Kensington Palace and into Frogmore Cottage in Windsor, several miles away.
At the time, Meghan was pregnant with Archie, so it was argued that Frogmore would allow the young family to have more space.
“Windsor is a very special place for their Royal Highnesses and they are grateful that their official residence will be on the estate,” an official statement read at the time.
Megxit
Despite tensions bubbling under the surface, perhaps the biggest royal scandal was Meghan and Harry’s 2020 decision to step back from their Royal duties, in a move that was dubbed as ‘Megxit’ — a play on words from Brexit.
This created an even bigger rift between Harry and William, but also allegedly between Meghan and Kate.
In an article from Tatler, sources claimed that Kate was reportedly “exhausted” and felt “trapped” from having to take on more royal responsibilities after Meghan’s exit, with a source saying at the time, “Kate is furious about the larger workload. Of course she’s smiling and dressing appropriately but she doesn’t want this.”
“Kate understands that the only credo of the royal family is duty, duty, duty. Whereas with the Sussexes it is constant uncertainty,” another source added.
Kensington Palace, however, slammed the allegations from the Tatler story in a statement to Entertainment Tonight, which read: “This story contains a swathe of inaccuracies and false misrepresentations which were not put to Kensington Palace prior to publication.”
The Oprah interview
In March 2021, Meghan and Harry sat down for an explosive tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey, where they lifted the lid on Royal life and attempted to set a few records straight.
She addressed the rumour that she had made Kate cry, revealing that it was actually Kate who had made her cry and the media had inaccurately reported the incident.
“Everyone in the institution knew it wasn’t true,” Markle said, adding she wasn’t sure why no one from the royal family had denied the reports.
“There wasn’t a confrontation. I don’t think it’s fair to her to get into the details because she apologized, and I’ve forgiven her.”
Harry & Meghan – the Netflix docuseries
In December 2022, Netflix announced the release of its explosive docuseries, Harry & Meghan which sees the pair open up about “their side” of their love story, which includes some pretty huge claims about how the Palace treated them while they were still acting as senior royals.
At one point, Prince Harry claims that the Palace was even “planting” stories about the couple.
“There’s a hierarchy of the family. There’s leaking, but there’s also planting of stories. It’s a dirty game,” he explained, adding, “No one knows the full truth. We know the full truth.”
In the first part of the series, Meghan explained the story of her first meeting with Prince William and Kate Middleton, which she refers to as Catherine in the show. Based Meghan’s retelling of the interaction, not only was their first exchange a little awkward, but telling of their alleged strained relationship to come.
“Even when Will and Kate came over, and I had met her for the first time… They came for dinner, I remember I was in ripped jeans and I was barefoot,” she said.
“I was a hugger, always been a hugger. I didn’t realise that that is really jarring for a lot of Brits.”
Meghan added that the public perception of extreme formality that surrounds the Royal family also follows them into their private life.
“I guess I started to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside. That there is a forward-facing way of being, and then you close the door and you go, ‘Oh, great. Okay, we can relax now.’ But that formality carries over on both sides, and that was surprising to me,” she added.
Perhaps it was jarring to Meghan how formal the family would be, or perhaps it was telling for how dissimilar the Royal family was to her relationship with her own family, but either way this first encounter certainly set up the tone for the rest of their relationship.
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