How does Prince William feel about Prince Harry's memoir? And what really happened between Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton? Here's who Will and Kate allegedly find to be royal pains.
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00:00How does Prince William feel about Prince Harry's memoir? And what really happened between
00:05Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton? Answers ahead as we explore who Will and Kate allegedly
00:09find to be royal pains.
00:13Family dynamics are tough, and transitioning a new person into the family can be difficult,
00:17especially when that family is a centuries-old institution responsible for representing a
00:22world power. Although Meghan Markle was seemingly met with open arms when she first joined her
00:27husband, Prince Harry's family, details from their documentary series Harry and Meghan,
00:31as well as Harry's memoir, Spare, are suggesting otherwise.
00:35And one relationship seems to be particularly fraught. Markle reportedly was at odds with
00:40her sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, long before Megxit, with bits of their feud taking place
00:45prior to Markle and Harry's royal wedding. As Harry shared in Spare, much of the drama
00:50surrounding the days leading up to the nuptials was due to an ill-fitting bridesmaid's dress.
00:55Middleton reportedly texted to Markle,
00:57"'Charlotte's dress is too big, too long, too baggy.' She cried when she tried it on
01:01at home."
01:02Markle responded with,
01:03"'Right, and I told you the tailor has been standing by since 8 a.m. Here, at KP. Can
01:08you take Charlotte to have it altered, as the other mums are doing?'
01:11Another source of tension spawned from Markle asking Middleton to borrow her lip gloss.
01:16Harry wrote,
01:17"'Kate, taken aback, went into her handbag and reluctantly pulled out a small tube. Meg
01:21squeezed some onto her finger and applied it to her lips. Kate grimaced.'"
01:25Harry also noted there was plenty he left out of his book, so we're guessing there's
01:30more to the story.
01:32The general public was foaming at the mouth over the release of Prince Harry's memoir,
01:36Spare. The highly anticipated book became the fastest-selling non-fiction book in history,
01:41according to the Guinness World Records, dethroning the previous record holder, President Barack
01:45Obama.
01:46There have been more revelations by Prince Harry about his life in Britain's royal family.
01:51Not everyone was so thrilled by the memoir's release, though. As Us Weekly reports, Kate
01:55Middleton was upset by the mention of her name. A source told the publication,
01:59"...Kate feels that Harry's actions are atrocious. She is appalled at him for dragging her name
02:03through the dirt and is finding it hard to forgive."
02:06Although Harry did recount some positive memories he has with his sister-in-law, most of what
02:11the royals said about Middleton in his memoir was negative. In addition to revealing text
02:15messages sent to his wife and dismay over shared beauty products, Harry also claimed
02:20Middleton and Prince William encouraged him to wear a Nazi uniform as a costume. He wrote,
02:25"...I phoned Willy and Kate, asked what they thought. Nazi uniform, they said. I rented
02:30it, plus a silly mustache, and went back to the house. I tried it all on. They both howled."
02:35And Kate's not the only one who has beef with Harry. As Prince Harry has shared through
02:39multiple media outlets, he and his brother Prince William have been at odds for years.
02:44And after the release of Harry's memoir, reconciliation might not come anytime soon.
02:49According to Harry's book, he and his brother had a physical altercation. Harry wrote,
02:54"...He sat down the water, called me another name, then came at me. He grabbed me by the
02:58collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. I landed on the dog's bowl,
03:03which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me. I lay there for a moment, dazed,
03:07then got to my feet and told him to get out."
03:11It's hard enough to make friends as an adult, let alone when you're one of the most famous
03:15people in the world and a literal princess. And in 2019, amid ample rumors of a rift between
03:20Kate Middleton and her sister-in-law Meghan Markle, Middleton was subject to another swirl
03:25of tabloid fodder, this time suggesting she and her friend Rose Hanbury had a falling
03:30out.
03:31A since-removed report from The Sun claimed that Middleton and Hanbury were no longer
03:35friends, and that Middleton had directed Prince William to end his friendship with her as
03:39well. Another since-removed report by The Sun cited a source saying,
03:43"...it is well known that Kate and Rose have had a terrible falling out. They used to be
03:47close, but that is not the case anymore."
03:50The rumors surrounding the new nature of Middleton's relationship with Hanbury persisted, leading
03:54other outlets to speculate about what the cause of the potential falling out might have
03:58been. In Touch alleged that William and Hanbury had an affair while Middleton was pregnant,
04:04suggesting that was the cause of Middleton and Hanbury's supposed feud.
04:07Kensington Palace never released any public statements concerning the rumors at the time
04:11they first surfaced, but in the Netflix docu-series Harry & Meghan, Harry seemed to hint at them.
04:16They were happy to lie to protect my brother. They were never willing to tell the truth
04:21to protect us."
04:22You can't believe everything you read, and if you ask Kate Middleton, she might warn
04:26you to be especially cautious of the British tabloid newspaper, The Sun.
04:31Thanks to a since-removed report by the popular outlet, rumors of a falling out between Middleton
04:35and her friend Rose Hanbury circulated. The news was reportedly not taken well by Middleton.
04:40A source explained to the Daily Mail,
04:42"...these hurtful rumors of a fallout are simply false. William and David were in touch
04:47with each other over the weekend, not knowing whether to laugh or complain. Both wives are
04:51hurt by the suggestion that there is any argument or even a coolness between them. They have
04:56plans for future events involving their charity."
04:58The report by the Daily Mail went on to claim the royals and Hanbury's party had contemplated
05:03leveling formal complaints against The Sun, but they ultimately overlooked the issue.
05:08Apparently, The Sun isn't the only media source Kate Middleton isn't fond of in Britain. Due
05:13to her position in the public eye, Middleton's life is lived under a microscope, the paparazzi
05:17serving as the operators of the instrument. And as Tina Brown claimed in her book, The
05:22Palace Papers, Inside the House of Windsor, The Truth and the Turmoil, Middleton has no
05:26time for the particularly aggressive members of the media, who will seemingly stop at nothing
05:31to get a photo of the royal family, treatment she reportedly first experienced while dating
05:36Prince William. Brown wrote in her book,
05:38"...Kate was relentlessly pursued in London. She was hounded when she left her Chelsea
05:42apartment in ways reminiscent of the harassment of the young Lady Di."
05:46Lady Di, of course, is referencing Princess Diana, William's mother, who famously died
05:51in a car accident in Paris in 1997 while being pursued by the paparazzi.
05:55"...the level of reaction to Diana's death took everybody by surprise."
05:59Diana's relationship with the media was one that is still talked about to this day, with
06:03many blaming her death on those who were chasing her. This speculation has also led to wide
06:08discussions over how her death did or did not alter the way the media interacts with
06:12celebrities. If you ask Middleton her thoughts on the subject, she might say the paparazzi
06:17are just as ruthless today as they were when her mother-in-law was alive.
06:21Prince William has also not been thrilled with the treatment his wife received. When
06:25William began dating Middleton, he released a statement noting his displeasure at the
06:29behavior of the British paparazzi. The statement said,
06:32"...Prince William is very unhappy at the paparazzi harassment of his girlfriend. He
06:36wants more than anything for it to stop. Miss Middleton should, like any other private individual,
06:41be able to go about her everyday business without this kind of intrusion. The situation
06:45is proving unbearable for all those concerned."
06:48One instance in particular infuriated William. In 2012, he and Middleton stayed at a villa
06:53in France, and Closer magazine printed photos of a topless princess that were taken during
06:58their vacation. The royal family took legal action over the photos, and William shared
07:03through his attorney,
07:04"...My wife and I thought that we could go to France for a few days in a secluded villa
07:08owned by a member of my family and thus enjoy our privacy. The clandestine way in which
07:12these photographs were taken was particularly shocking to us as it breached our privacy."
07:18Prince William has made his feelings about the paparazzi perfectly clear on multiple
07:22occasions, but one particular member is allegedly harder for the royal to bear than others.
07:27In April 2021, William was recorded by Terry Harris, a British photographer who, as told
07:32by The Independent, was supposedly obtaining footage of the royal family. In the since-deleted
07:37video, William is heard saying to Harris,
07:39"...How dare you behave like you have done with our children? How dare you? Stalking
07:43around here looking for us and our children? I'm out for a quiet bike ride with my children
07:48on a Saturday and you won't even give me your name. You're outrageous. You're disgusting.
07:53You really are."
07:54The Kensington Palace was unhappy with the video, calling it a breach of privacy. Although
07:58William does not have a good rapport with certain members of the British media, other
08:02members of the royal family have insinuated that the relationship between the country's
08:05news outlets and the monarchy is, to a certain extent, symbiotic. As Meghan Markle told Oprah
08:11Winfrey,
08:12"...there's a reason that these tabloids have holiday parties at the palace."
08:15"...They're hosted by the palace. The tabloids are. You know, there is a construct that's
08:20at play there."
08:22Prince Harry agreed, saying that there's an invisible contract between the tabloids and
08:26the royal family. He added,
08:27"...I'm acutely aware of where my family stand and how acutely scared they are of the tabloids
08:33turning on them."
08:35Long before Prince William married Kate Middleton, he was considered one of the most eligible
08:38bachelors in the world, and his dating life was at the center of the media for years.
08:43The prince dated several impressive women, even almost marrying some. While studying
08:48at St. Andrew's, William dated Carly Massey-Birch. The relationship didn't last long, and William
08:53soon began dating his future wife, though they waited some time before taking it public.
08:57While at a party, Massey-Birch reportedly revealed that William and Middleton were in
09:01fact an item during a game of Never Have I Ever. As noted in the book, The Making of
09:05a Royal Romance, when it was Carly's turn to play, she announced,
09:09"...I've never dated two people in this room," knowing full well that William was the only
09:13one who had, because Kate was sitting next to him.
09:16The couple took the reveal well, but William reportedly said, quote,
09:19"...I can't believe you just said that to his ex-girlfriend."
09:22The royal relationship, of course, ended up in Middleton's favor. In 2011, William and
09:26Middleton wed, and by 2013, had welcomed their first child. In 2023, over a decade after
09:32walking down the aisle, the royal couple has had three children, and William is now next
09:37in line to the throne after the death of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, in September
09:412022.
09:42Though we can't say for certain, we're guessing it's safe to assume Massey-Birch will never
09:46bear the title of queen.
09:49All the major details, and more, of the royals' lives have been made public since their births.
09:53Before Megxit, the biggest royal scandal in recent history was the affair King Charles
09:57had with his now-wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, while he was married to Princess Diana. The
10:02relationship between Charles and Parker Bowles eventually led to a separation between him
10:06and Diana, and four years later, the two divorced.
10:09Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."
10:13A year after that, Diana died, leaving behind her two children, Prince William and Prince
10:17Harry.
10:18Just as the public was intrigued by the relationship between Charles and Parker Bowles, so have
10:22they been interested to know about how she gets along with her stepchildren. Per the
10:26book, Camilla From Outcast to Queen Consort, the relationship between Parker Bowles and
10:31William is a bit strange. As author Angela Levin asserted in the book,
10:35William has made it clear that Camilla is the wife of his father, but not a step-grandmother
10:39to his children. She further lumped Harry into the equation, noting,
10:43"...one carefully managed myth peddled by Boland was that the boys had warmed to Camilla,
10:48but they tolerated her at best."
10:49"...she was the villain."
10:51In his memoir, Spare, Harry seemed to corroborate the claims that William isn't Parker Bowles'
10:55biggest fan, noting that the royal brothers were against Charles and Parker Bowles' marriage.
11:00He wrote,
11:01With William and me urging him not to, Pa was going ahead.