Let's be real. Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton's relationship never seemed to be all that great. As much as they tried to look picture perfect when out and about together, there were enough rumors and reports about behind-the-scenes behavior for people to guess that they weren't the best of friends. But even Prince Harry, who seemed to get along with Kate really well before he met Meghan, has recently been snide about certain aspects of the Cambridges' life.
Some of the alleged swipes Harry and Meghan have taken at Kate aren't what they seem, but in some instances the Duchess of Cambridge would have every right to be upset about the way her brother-in-law and sister-in-law seemed to be snubbing her.
It started long before the Sussexes left the royal family, and it didn't stop when they did.
Meghan Reportedly Made Kate Cry
The rumors about Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle's feud started when reports broke that a pre-wedding argument between the two women left Kate in tears. Allegedly, Meghan didn't want her bridesmaids to wear tights, and protocol-savvy Kate did. Meghan got her way, and Kate was allegedly so frustrated that she cried.
The Palace Denied Rumors Kate & Meghan Fought Over Staff Treatment
Kensington Palace rarely speaks up on rumors about the royals, but a statement was issued after more reports that Kate and Meghan were fighting surfaced. Sources had claimed that Kate was upset with Meghan for allegedly being rude to one of Kate's staff members. But the Palace said, "This never happened."
Not every rumored swipe at Kate is true, it seems.
Meghan Reportedly Rejected Kate's Attempt at Mending Fences
After so many media headlines about their alleged feuding, Kate reportedly tried to reach out to Meghan with an olive branch … or in this case a bouquet of flowers. But her peace offering was allegedly rejected, with sources claiming that Meghan made it clear to Kate that flowers wouldn't be enough to fix things. However, other sources have claimed that Meghan didn't snub Kate, so who can we believe, really?
Meghan Kinda Called Kate Out for Appearing on the 'Vogue' Cover
In 2016, Kate Middleton appeared on the cover of British Vogue, which is a pretty unusual thing for the royals to do. She looked stunning, and everyone loved it. But when Meghan was offered the same opportunity alongside the issue she guest edited, the duchess turned it down with some choice words. According to the magazine's editor-in-chief, Meghan thought "it would be in some ways a 'boastful' thing to do."
Some people thought that Meghan was calling Kate boastful for having done the cover, but considering that Meghan has appeared on magazine covers in the past, it's more likely that she just wanted to give a spotlight to the women she highlighted in that particular issue.
Harry & Meghan Left The Royal Foundation
Once upon a time, the Sussexes and the Cambridges were seen as a foursome, especially in the charity world. They all had a part in the Royal Foundation and did joint events, such as this forum in 2018. But in 2019, Harry and Meghan announced that they were leaving the Royal Foundation to start their own charity venture. According to what an insider told Us Weekly, "There were definitely issues with Meghan and Kate seeing eye to eye on how they wanted to run this charity."
Instead of coming to some kind of compromise with Kate β who had been part of the foundation since 2011 β Harry and Meghan just peaced out.
They Also Left Kensington Palace
Harry and Meghan apparently wanted to be separated from William and Kate as much as possible in any facet of their lives. Not long after they married, the Sussexes left their joint Kensington Palace home and went to live at Frogmore Cottage. Rumor has it that the move had every bit to do with wanting space from the Cambridges.
Harry Slighted People Who Have More Than Two Kids
Prince Harry is a big supporter of the environment, and when he talked to conservationist Jane Goodall, he slighted his brother and sister-in-law.
Jane joked that Harry had to make sure not to have too many kids, because humans can have such a big negative impact on the planet. Harry answered, "Two maximum!" Um, Harry, did ya forget you have a niece and two nephews? He may not have intended to take a swipe at Kate's three children, but he kinda did.
Harry Allegedly Called Will & Kate Out For Having Staff
OK, if true, this was definitely a more intentional slight. In the book Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Royal Family β which Harry and Meghan claim they had no role in β the authors wrote that Harry looked at Will and Kate's life as what he definitely didn't want.
"Harry and Meghan had agreed that they didn't want their home filled with staff," the book claimed. "Harry had seen that situation at William's home and didn't want the same for his family."
Some Think Meghan Stole Kate's Baby Name
It's such a big no-no amongst women to steal their relatives' or friends' baby names, but some have claimed that Meghan did that to Kate. Ahead of baby Archie's birth, Prince George revealed that his nickname was Archie. Then, lo and behold, Archie Harrison was born a few months later. But this alleged swipe is probably not legit. After all, George's name is George, not Archie.
Sure, it's kind of weird for his nickname to be Archie if there's another Archie in the family, but maybe George was confused and just said a random name β or maybe he'd just heard his parents talking about the soon-to-be Archie Harrison and liked the sound of it.
Anyway, the royals are extremely uncreative when it comes to names and often repeat monikers through the generations. (There's a reason she's Queen Elizabeth II, y'all.) Don't sweat this one so much.
Leaving Kate Out of Their Royal Exit Announcement
When Harry and Meghan first made their exit statement, they had said that they planned to continue working with the royal family to some extent. They even listed the people they were going to work with β and Kate was not among them. "We look forward to sharing the full details of this exciting next step in due course, as we continue to collaborate with Her Majesty The Queen, The Prince of Wales, The Duke of Cambridge and all relevant parties," their statement said.
We suppose that Kate fits into the "all relevant parties" section, but to not call out the future Queen by name seems pretty rude.
Announcing Their Royal Exit the Day Before Kate's Birthday
A royal with Prince Harry's standing in the famiy to just up and leave is huge news, and he and Meghan had to have known it would dominate both the media and the royal family's attention as everyone scrambled to figure out what was going on. So that makes it a pretty low blow for Harry and Meghan to have gone public with their exit the day before Kate Middleton's birthday. Hard to celebrate when knowing there's a bunch of extra work coming one's way.
The Sussex Account Didn't Wish Kate a Happy Birthday
Not only did Harry and Meghan's announcement overshadow Kate's big day, but then their Instagram account also didn't even wish her a happy birthday. It's customary for the royals to publically wish each other well on their special days via social media, but the Sussexes said not a word about the Duchess of Cambridge.
... But Kate & Will Wished Meghan a Happy Birthday
Harry and Meghan may have ignored Kate's birthday, but Will and Kate's Instagram page made sure to honor Meghan's big day a couple of weeks ago. Sure, she and Harry left them to pick up the pieces of the royal family, but they don't publicly hold any bad blood. "Wishing a very happy birthday to The Duchess of Sussex today!" they wrote alongside a photo of Meghan.
One Last Dig Before Exiting the Royal Family for Good
Initially, Harry and Meghan had wanted to use Sussex Royal in their post-royal branding and trademarked it as such. The Queen didn't end up allowing that, so the duo issued a statement about how they would be dropping the trademark. But the way they did so was so shady toward Kate. "The trademark applications that had been filed as protective measures and that reflected the same standard trademarking requests as done for The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, have been removed."
Yes, we know that the Kate and Will have trademarks too, to protect themselves, but they also didn't leave the royal family. Also, there was no real need to call them out like that.
Reaching Out to Kate Middleton's Alleged Twitter Troll
To be fair, they probably didn't know that she was Kate's alleged Twitter troll, but Harry and Meghan reportedly called a woman named Dani Trin in June to thank her for raising funds for one of their charities.
Dani also just happened to be part of a Twitter account that has called Kate an "anorexic wrinkly [expletive]," among other things. Dani's denied having sent any of those rude tweets herself, but it's definitely a sticky situation for the Sussexes to have accidentally stepped into.
