Five key moments Kate Middleton & Meghan Markle’s relationship fell apart – from nickname controversy to wedding drama
SO much has been written and speculated about when it comes to Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle’s now very public Royal rift.
But while many thought they’d have to wait until a rebooted version of Netflix hit The Crown to get their answers, a Royal insider has spared them the wait.
Royal expert Camilla Tominey has given her take on the situation and lifted the lid on where she thinks it all went so wrong for William and Harry’s wives.
There are five key moments that seemed to mark a point of no return for Kate, 41, and 42-year-old Meghan, who once made up half of the infamous – but short-lived – ‘Fab Four’.
Speaking about the two couples’ first and last joint appearance – February 2018’s the Royal Foundation Forum – Camilla explained: “The quartet would never appear together again, except in the context of larger royal engagements, such as Trooping the Colour, the Platinum Jubilee, and of course, the late Queen‘s funeral.
“But the awkwardness on display that frosty day provides an insight into the many reasons why Meghan appears never to have taken to Kate – and vice versa,” she continued in The Telegraph.
Here, we take a look at the alleged root of their rift – and how it only seemed to go from bad to worse…
1. PLAYING ‘SECOND FIDDLE’
According to Camilla, the Royal Foundation Forum is said to be a “significant pinch point” in Kate and Meghan’s relationship for not one, but two reasons.
The public event was one of the first times that both William and Harry themselves confessed that working with family had its “challenges”.
And they were in full display on the day when former actress and philanthropist Meghan took centre stage with a passionate monologue about women’s empowerment – a slight tangent from the Forum’s focus on mental health.
In Tina Brown’s book The Palace Papers she writes: “With blithe proprietorship, [Meghan] deployed an issue that was not even on the foundation’s docket – women’s empowerment, then at its fervid height with the acceleration of the #MeToo movement.”
Camilla continued in her piece: “The event was supposed to be about promoting better mental health, and here was the Duchess, seemingly politicising it.”
Meanwhile, according to a Royal insider, “Meghan seemed uncomfortable having to so publicly play ‘second fiddle’ to William and Kate as the superior royals in the palace hierarchy.”
They claim that Meghan could have found “it difficult that the Royal Foundation was already a well-oiled machine by the time she got there.”
2. LUKEWARM RECEPTION
However, it seems there were already seeds of a rift between the two Royal women dating back to their very first meeting two years previously.
It’s claimed that when Kate and William first met Meghan back in 2016, they didn’t get off to the best start.
Camilla wrote: “In truth, there had been a degree of frisson almost as soon as Meghan officially arrived on the royal scene in 2016 to a lukewarm reception from “formal” William and Kate, who as well as finding her “a little full on”, had no idea she would be a keeper, having met a succession of Harry’s girlfriends.”
While Harry wrote in his memoir Spare that when he brought Meghan round to meet his brother and sister-in-law, Kate remained in the garden playing with the children instead of greeting her.
3. MEGHAN’S ‘WOKERY’
There were also apparently wider issues at play, and Camilla claimed that “The Prince and Princess of Wales may well have been influenced by mutual friends raising concerns following a shooting party at Sandringham.”
According to reports – which have also been covered in Tom Bower’s book Revenge, Meghan and Harry attended a party with 16 invited guests when talk turned to former US president Donald Trump and his imminent election.
Tom wrote: “Without hesitation, Meghan challenged every guest whose conversation contravened her values.
“Beyond Harry’s hearing, some friends questioned Meghan’s supposed “wokery”. Meghan was a dampener on the party, they concluded.”
4. WEDDING SNUB
Other outside parties also could have played their part, and things allegedly came to another head when Kate’s younger sister Pippa Middleton failed to invite Harry and Meghan to her big day.
Speaking about the situation involving Pippa, who tied the knot with James Matthews in May 2017, Camilla said: “The Sussexes were then upset when Pippa declined to invite them to her wedding to James Matthews in May 2017, perhaps fearing she would be upstaged by Harry’s new girlfriend.
“She later relented and invited them to the evening reception “to keep the peace”.
“According to Harry in Spare, William and Kate then took exception to the couple moving the name places at the table – before being accused of doing the same when the Sussexes got married.”
5. NICKNAME CONTROVERSY
There are also said to be many other bones of contention between Kate and Meghan – namely Meghan’s choice of nickname for her sister-in-law.
While mum-of-three is largely known as Catherine in Royal circles, Meghan opted for something else.
Camilla revealed: “Meghan always pointedly insisted on calling the Princess of Wales “Kate” even though the rest of the family referred to her as “Catherine”.”
Omid Scobie – who has been dubbed ‘Meghan’s cheerleader’ – released Endgame: Inside The Royal Family and The Monarchy’s Fight for Survival last month.
The Sun has revealed Endgame labels William “heartless”, claiming he denied Harry the opportunity of flying to the late Queen Elizabeth II‘s deathbed in September last year.
Meanwhile, Harry and Meghan have been left off the guestlist for his childhood friend the Duke of Westminster‘s wedding – yet William and Kate will attend the ceremony.
And a Conservative MP has launched a bid for a new law stripping the Sussexes of their royal titles.
Fabulous will pay for your exclusive stories. Just email: fabulousdigital@the-sun.co.uk and pop EXCLUSIVE in the subject line