Prince Harry Allegedly Once Told Prince William “Kate Could Be Friendlier to Meghan”

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 31 July 2022

Tom Bower’s new book, Revenge: Meghan, Harry, and the War Between the Windsors details a tough conversation between brothers Prince William and Prince Harry about the relationship between their respective wives, Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle.

According to The Mirror, the book claims that Harry, while he and Meghan were preparing for their official visit to Australia and New Zealand in 2018, told William that Kate should be “friendlier to his wife.”

“Members of their family, said Harry, were not showing her [Meghan] sufficient support, respect, or friendship,” Bower writes. “Meghan, Harry believed, should be just as appreciated as their mother [Princess Diana].”

Not totally shockingly, the conversation did not go over well.

“William’s reply was not sympathetic,” Bower writes.

By the latter half of 2018, the brothers were already at odds and had been for some time. But Bower writes, “beyond the palaces, few were aware of the split between the brothers.” After all, William had just served as his younger brother’s best man at his wedding just a few months prior in May 2018.

It was in the leadup to that wedding that the “who made who cry” drama between Kate and Meghan happened, reportedly at a bridesmaid dress fitting. The media alleged Meghan made Kate cry; during her March 2021 explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan said the reverse happened.

Bower’s book contains new details about the altercation, in which he alleges that the two fell out over whether Kate’s daughter Princess Charlotte should wear tights and if the dress fit properly.

Another veteran royal biographer, Andrew Morton, wrote in his book Meghan: A Hollywood Princess that Kate didn’t have “much energy” to bond with Meghan in the months before the wedding, as she was experiencing a difficult pregnancy with her youngest child, Prince Louis, who was born less than a month before Meghan’s wedding. (Louis was born on April 23, 2018; the wedding was on May 19 of the same year.)

Meghan has said she has forgiven Kate and, speaking to Oprah, said Kate is a “good person” and that Kate sent her flowers to apologize for the incident. Meghan didn’t directly address what caused the spat—only that it happened.

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.