Featured Image Credit: Richard Pohle - WPA Pool/Getty Images
Topics: Prince Harry, Prince William, Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle, Royal Family, UK News
Rhianna Benson
Topics: Prince Harry, Prince William, Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle, Royal Family, UK News
It's been over two years since the release of Prince Harry's bombshell memoir Spare, and still, royal fans are reeling over a claim he previously made about William and Catherine, the Prince and Princess of Wales.
For those in need of a reminder, the bestselling biography saw the Duke of Sussex detailing examples of severe maltreatment that he and his wife, Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, reportedly endured whilst serving as working royals.
Not only did the father-of-two accuse one high-profile member of the Firm of voicing their concerns over his son, Prince Archie’s skin tone, but he made allegations that his sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, had 'bullied' the former Suits actress on several occasions.
One instance, he wrote that Kate had reduced Meghan to tears over a bridesmaids’ dress that needed to be 'remade' for her daughter Princess Charlotte, claiming to have found his wife 'sobbing on the floor'.
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He also wrote that the next day, Kate delivered a bouquet of flowers and a card as an apology.
Despite this, a number of British tabloids reported that it was Meghan, now 44, who had reduced 43-year-old Kate to tears that fateful day, which resulted in them arranging a reconciliation.
However, despite this subsequent 'summit' with William, 43, and Kate taking place on Harry and Meghan’s ‘turf', the Spare author said the meet-up descended into accusations over leaks to the press.
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"We all gathered in our little front annex, and this time there was no small talk," Harry wrote. "Kate got things rolling straight away by acknowledging that these stories in the papers about Meg making her cry were totally false."
He went on to claim that Kate had told his wife: 'I know, Meghan, that I was the one who made you cry'.
"I sighed. Excellent start, I thought," Harry added. "Meg appreciated the apology, but wanted to know why the papers had said this, and what was being done to correct them?
"In other words: 'Why isn’t your office standing up for me? Why haven’t they phoned this execrable woman who wrote this story and demanded a retraction?'."
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The Prince recalled Kate becoming flustered and refusing to answer, after which William piped up 'with some very supportive-sounding evasions, but I already knew the truth'.
"No one at the Palace could phone the correspondent," Harry continued. "Because that would invite the inevitable retort: 'Well, if the story’s wrong, what’s the real story? What did happen between the two duchesses?' And that door must never be opened, because it would embarrass the future queen. The monarchy, always, at all costs, had to be protected.
"We shifted from what to do about the story to where it came from. Who could’ve planted such a thing? Who could’ve leaked it to the press in the first place? Who? We went around and around. The list of suspects became vanishingly small."
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Harry claimed William 'finally' chimed in again, claiming that 'while he’d been on tour in Australia, he and Kate had gone to dinner with Pa [King Charles III] and Camilla'.
"Alas, he said sheepishly," Harry went on. "He might’ve let it slip that there’d been strife between the two couples… I put a hand over my face. Meg froze. A heavy silence fell. So now we knew.
"I told Willy: You…of all people…should’ve known… He nodded. He knew. More silence. It was time for them to go."
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The royal family has maintained a wall of silence following Spare’s bombshell accusations, with no senior members releasing statements regarding its contents.
The Daily Mail claimed earlier this summer that Harry and his father Charles had sent representatives to a ‘secret peace summit’ in London.
It’s understood the reconciliation event was ‘leaked’ to the press, with The Telegraph reporting it ‘jeopardised the fragile peace operation’, creating ‘even more "suspicion and distrust on both sides.’
Meanwhile, Harry and William were last reunited at the memorial service for their uncle, Lord Robert Fellowes, in August 2024.
According to People, the brothers could end up in the same room later this summer if they opt to attend the wedding of their eldest cousin, Peter Philips, to his second wife, Harriet Sperling.
Additional words by Ella Scott.