Marie Claire Marie Claire
  • Celebrity
  • Fashion
  • Beauty
  • Culture
  • Power
  • Nice Talk
  • Style At Large
  • More
    • Politics
    • Career & Money
    • Health & Fitness
    • Power Play
    • Travel
    • Promo Codes
    • Food & Cocktails
    • About Us
    • Subscribe
    • Sex & Love
  • Newsletter SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Marie Claire
    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!


    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    You are now subscribed

    Your newsletter sign-up was successful


    Want to add more newsletters?

    Marie Claire Daily

    Delivered daily

    Marie Claire Daily

    Get exclusive access to fashion and beauty trends, hot-off-the-press celebrity news, and more.

    Marie Claire Self Checkout

    Sent weekly on Saturday

    Marie Claire Self Checkout

    Exclusive access to expert shopping and styling advice from Nikki Ogunnaike, Marie Claire's editor-in-chief.

    Maire Claire Face Forward

    Once a week

    Maire Claire Face Forward

    Insider tips and recommendations for skin, hair, makeup, nails and more from Hannah Baxter, Marie Claire's beauty director.

    Livingetc

    Once a week

    Livingetc

    Your shortcut to the now and the next in contemporary home decoration, from designing a fashion-forward kitchen to decoding color schemes, and the latest interiors trends.

    Homes & Gardens

    Delivered Daily

    Homes & Gardens

    The ultimate interior design resource from the world's leading experts - discover inspiring decorating ideas, color scheming know-how, garden inspiration and shopping expertise.


    An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
    Trending
    • Coco Gauff's New Balances
    • Dyson
    • Postpartum Texts
    • Ayan Broomfield
    • Everyday Handbags
    1. Celebrity

    Meghan Markle "Hated the Comparisons" With Kate Middleton, Claims Royal Biographer

    Tom Bower is famously critical of his subjects.

    Iris Goldsztajn's avatar
    By Iris Goldsztajn
    Published 19 July 2022 In News

    When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

    The Royal Family Attend Church On Christmas Day
    (Image credit: Getty/Pool/Samir Hussein)
    • Facebook
    • X
    • Pinterest
    Share this article
    Join the conversation
    Follow us
    Add us as a preferred source on Google
    Subscribe to our newsletter

    When Meghan Markle was preparing to join the Royal Family, many were rooting for her and Kate Middleton to forge a sisterly alliance. Others, on the other hand, found it all too easy to pit the two women against each other.

    Sadly, it sounds like the latter camp's predictions turned out to be the most accurate: Since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex' royal exit, there has famously been a certain amount of tension between Princes William and Harry especially, with their wives presumably siding at least somewhat with their respective husbands.

    Although the Duchess of Cambridge has been reported to try to mend the relationship between her husband and his brother, perhaps the most notable sign of tension between her and her California-based counterpart was when Markle admitted that Middleton had made her cry ahead of her 2018 wedding, during the 2021 Oprah interview.

    Latest Videos FromMarie Claire
    Watch full video here:

    Now, an explosive upcoming biography by no-holds-barred royal author Tom Bower is shedding light on some of the feelings that may have been happening behind the scenes when the Sussexes were still working royals.

    In an excerpt of Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the war between the Windsors published by The Times, Bower writes, "No other member of the royal family had suffered as much embarrassment from their own family as Meghan. There was some equivalence in Meghan’s contempt for her half-siblings, Samantha and Thomas, and now Harry’s for Kate and William, in particular.

    You may like
    • Princess Kate Middleton wears a green dress and has long wavy brown hair and Duchess Meghan Markle wears a white shirt and wears her hair in a ponytail Negative Royal Stories Reduce All Women to "Witches"
    • Kate Middleton wears a giant straw hat and a green dress to attend Wimbledon in July 2026 Princess Kate "Melds More Easily" to Royal Life
    • Kate Middleton wears a dark red coat and matching hat while Meghan Markle wears a navy coat and matching hat One Royal "Brought Star Power" to the Royal Family

    "The Cambridges, she believed, were failing to offer the recognition and generosity she deserved. She hated the comparisons with uncomplaining Kate. Effortlessly, the Cambridges appeared to be perfect. Meghan appeared to be influenced by envy of Kate. In turn, the future queen regarded her neighbour as dismissive."

    I've never met either duchess, and I can't speak to their character or behavior behind the scenes, but I will observe that Bower is known for unbridled criticism, and that his consistent use of negative adjectives to describe Markle and positive ones to describe Middleton works to create a specific and one-sided impression of the two women. With that, I'll leave you to make up your own mind.

    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!

    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
    Explore More
    princess catherine Prince William meghan markle
    Iris Goldsztajn
    Iris Goldsztajn
    Social Links Navigation
    Morning Editor

    Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and SELF. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.

    Read more
    Princess Kate Middleton wears a green dress and has long wavy brown hair and Duchess Meghan Markle wears a white shirt and wears her hair in a ponytail
    Royals Negative Royal Stories Reduce All Women to "Witches"
    By Amy Mackelden
    Princess Kate Middleton has long brown wavy hair with blonde highlights and looks to the sky while wearing a dark green coat
    Royals "The Burdens" Princess Kate Experiences as a Royal Woman
    By Amy Mackelden
     
     
    Prince WIlliam walking next to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
    Royals Royal Expert Claims William and Harry Can't Avoid Each Other Forever
    By Kristin Contino
    Princess Kate Middleton has long wavy brown hair and wears a black polo neck sweater with a brown blazer
    Royals One Royal Has Become "Very Close" to Princess Kate
    By Amy Mackelden
     
     
    Latest in Celebrity
    Queen Elizabeth wears a lilac coat and matching hat with a green feather and drops a bouquet given to her by a royal fan in 2010 at Eton
    Royals Fan's Gift Caused Queen Elizabeth to Make a Rare Faux Pas
    Alexandra Leclerc wearing a red Ferrari dress, she has long brown hair and is pregnant while wearing sunglasses
    Celebrity Style Alexandra Leclerc's Italian Grand Prix Dress Is Red Hot
     
     
    Meghan Markle wears a white dress with a matching hat, while Prince Harry and King Charles wears suits and top hats at Royal Ascot in 2018
    Royals Charles Reveals His Position on Harry and Meghan's Return
    Lili Reinhart pays tribute to Kate Hudson's yellow dress in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days while promoting The Love Hypothesis, she is a woman with blonde hair
    Celebrity Style Lili Reinhart Recreates Rom-Com History in Kate Hudson's Gown
     
     
    Latest in News
    Queen Elizabeth wears a lilac coat and matching hat with a green feather and drops a bouquet given to her by a royal fan in 2010 at Eton
    Royals Fan's Gift Caused Queen Elizabeth to Make a Rare Faux Pas
    Alexandra Leclerc wearing a red Ferrari dress, she has long brown hair and is pregnant while wearing sunglasses
    Celebrity Style Alexandra Leclerc's Italian Grand Prix Dress Is Red Hot
     
     
    Meghan Markle wears a white dress with a matching hat, while Prince Harry and King Charles wears suits and top hats at Royal Ascot in 2018
    Royals Charles Reveals His Position on Harry and Meghan's Return
    Lili Reinhart pays tribute to Kate Hudson's yellow dress in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days while promoting The Love Hypothesis, she is a woman with blonde hair
    Celebrity Style Lili Reinhart Recreates Rom-Com History in Kate Hudson's Gown
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Marie Claire
    RSS
    • About us
    • Contact Future's experts
    • Contact us
    • Advertise Online
    • Newsletter
    • Terms and conditions
    • Privacy policy
    • Cookies policy
    • Careers
    Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google

    Marie Claire is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

    © Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.