There had been high hopes for the Princess of Wales and Meghan Markle to hit it off and become a force to be reckoned with.
But it seems the two strong women never really saw eye to eye after Prince Harry first started dating Meghan - and tension between the pair started simmering almost straight away. One rather awkward standoff between the two women came before Harry and Meghan's wedding when the couple, along with Prince William and Kate, had been dubbed the 'Fab Four'.
During an outing in February 2018, the royals took part in a Royal Foundation Forum, where they were quizzed about their charity work and brothers William and Harry joked about having disagreements. And in his memoir Spare, Harry recalls that backstage before the forum, there had been a tense moment between Meghan and Kate - and it was over lipgloss.
Image:
Getty Images)He explains how Meghan asked to borrow Kate's lipgloss, which left the Princess of Wales grimacing. He writes: "Meg asked to borrow Kate's lipgloss. An American thing. Meg forgot hers, worried she needed some, and turned to Kate for help. Kate, taken aback, went into her handbag and reluctantly pulled out a small tube. Meg squeezed some onto her finger and applied it to her lips. Kate grimaced. Small clash of styles maybe."
The detail about the moment is one of many in Harry's book also sheds new light on what really happened between Kate and Meghan during the latter's time as a working royal. He also alleges that Meghan upset Kate by saying she must have "baby brain” in the run-up to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s 2018 wedding when she was pregnant with Prince Louis.
Image:
UK Press via Getty Images)Meanwhile, he also reveals a private conversation said to have taken place between the two women about bridesmaids' dresses that left Meghan in tears. It came after a dress for Princess Charlotte was said to be too big - but Harry says that Kate did apologise.
In an ITV interview with Tom Bradby in January, Harry admitted Kate and William didn't get on with Meghan "from the get-go". Asked why the relationship got off on a bad note, Harry said there were "lots of different reasons". He went on: "I don't think they were ever expecting me to get into a relationship with someone like Meghan, who had, you know, a very successful career. There was a lot of stereotyping that was happening, that I was guilty of as well, at the beginning."
Pushed on what he meant by that, Harry continues: "American actress, and that was playing out in the British press in the media at the time as well. I had that in the back of my mind, and some of the things that my brother and sister-in-law – some of the way that they were acting or behaving definitely felt to me as though unfortunately that stereotyping was causing a bit of a barrier to them really sort of, you know, introducing or welcoming her in."
Image:
Getty Images for the Invictus Ga)Asked specifically what he meant, Harry added: "Well, American actress, divorced, biracial - there's all different parts to that and what that can mean but if you are, like a lot of my family do, if you are reading the press, the British tabloids, [yeah] at the same time as living the life, then there is a tendency where you could actually end up living in the tabloid bubble rather than the actual reality."
Yesterday Meghan and Harry cheered on athletes among the crowds at the Invictus Games after walking hand in hand. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were sitting side-by-side clapping and also reacting to the game tensely as they watched the wheelchair basketball with Australia supporters on Wednesday morning in Dusseldorf, Germany. Harry hugged a competitor and shook hands with another during the morning.
The pair were all smiles as they held hands while walking in the Merkur Spiel-Arena, Harry in an Invictus Games polo top and trousers and Meghan wearing a black top with white shorts and a white cardigan with gold buttons. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex handed out medals to children on the basketball court and the couple also posed for photographs with others at the event. It comes after Meghan arrived late at the Invictus Games on Tuesday, saying she had to spend more time getting their “little ones settled at home”.
