In December a slew of rumors hit the Internet suggesting Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton had some kind of “royal feud.” Despite Kensington Palace’s denying the claims in a rare statement, this narrative still persists—and it’s the subject of TLC’s new special Kate v. Meghan: Princesses at War?, which aired Tuesday night. The one-hour documentary offers an inside look into Meghan and Kate’s relationship, relying on seasoned British reporters to give the most accurate info.
Of course, we’ll never know anything concrete about Meghan and Kate’s “feud” until they say something personally, which will (most likely) never happen. It’s a safe bet, though, to assume they’re just your standard sisters-in-law: friendly but not best friends. The journalists interviewed for TLC’s documentary corroborate this—and offer new details to the rumors you’ve been reading for months. Below, the main takeaways:
1. The truth behind the rumor that Meghan made Kate cry. If you’ll recall, rumors began swirling in late 2018 that Kate left Princess Charlotte’s bridesmaid-dress fitting for Meghan’s wedding in tears. “It’s true to say that someone did see Catherine upset after a bridesmaid-dress fitting,” author and journalist Eve Pollard says in the documentary. Adds broadcaster Carole Malone, “Kate had just given birth to Prince Louis, so maybe she was a little bit emotional. But whatever the thing was, the future queen of England was in tears over what Meghan had said to her.”
2. Kate and Meghan’s dynamic. It’s been reported the two duchesses don’t always see eye to eye because they’re very different people. However, this doesn’t mean some sort of splashy feud exists, either. “I think that Kate would very definitely be threatened by Meghan’s presence on the royal scene,” Malone says. “I do think had you been the top dog, had you been the young, gorgeous girl that everyone had been photographing for the last two or three or four years and all your works had been highlighted—everything you’d done—you might be a little put out when this gorgeous, American Hollywood star arrives on the scene.”
3. Tiara-gate. In November the Daily Mail reported there was a dispute between Prince Harry and Queen Elizabeth II over which tiara Meghan would wear on her big day. The queen had a specific image in mind, and it didn’t include Meghan’s preferred tiara. This, allegedly, started a tiff.
“Prince Harry had a word with courtiers to say he really wanted Meghan to have her first choice,” royal journalist and author Katie Nicholl says. “I think the words were ‘What Meghan wants, Meghan gets,’ and that really didn’t go down very well at the palace at all—so much so that the queen did intervene and, we understand, had a word with Harry about his and Meghan’s behavior and was told in no uncertain terms that Meghan would get what she was given.”
4. All those stories about Meghan’s “up-and-at-’em West Coast energy.” Meghan’s can-do attitude reportedly rubbed some courtiers in Kensington Palace the wrong way. Says Nicholl: “There was an article about how Meghan had this quite incredible energy, these 5:00 A.M. starts. She starts her day with yoga and then, literally, she’s firing off emails to courtiers. This West Coast at-’em energy was just something courtiers were not used to. They didn’t quite know how to handle it.”
5. Why Prince Harry and Meghan are leaving Kensington Palace for Frogmore Cottage. Royal experts don’t think this has anything to do with a “feud” between Meghan and Kate. “For Harry, who has spent his entire lifetime in William’s shadow, the idea that he sort of wants to break free of that—to be his own prince, to be his own person—why should he live in William’s pocket?” Nicholl says.
Pollard, however, thinks the move has to do with the fact Meghan and Harry are expanding their family. “Now you’re making new babies—new families—to yourself,” she says. “It would probably be healthier to have a bit of space.”
Author and historian Kate Williams adds privacy could have something to do with it as well: “Harry is obsessed with privacy, and he’s seen what’s happened to William’s children every time they go out to the park inside Kensington Palace. Someone takes a snap of them.”
6. On how honest the British media is. Rumors come out about the royal family almost daily, but should we believe them? “I think that a lot of rumors about Kate and Meghan are manufactured to sell newspapers,” Paul Burrell, Princess Diana’s former butler, says. “An editor…actually said to me, ‘We’ve never let the truth get in the way of a good story.’ And I think there’s an element of that with Kate and Meghan.”
Malone, who has decades of tabloid experience, offers a different take. She says the Kate-Meghan rumors are likely coming from inside Kensington Palace. “The media, contrary to popular opinion, do not make up stories,” she says. “The fact of the matter is we hear things. We get told things. People will say, ‘You haven’t named [the sources].’ Of course we haven’t because you can’t name some of the people who are saying derogatory things about Meghan. They would be fired.”
7. Who could be leaking these stories. “Disgruntled people do the leaking,” Malone says. “People who think stories should be out in the public domain do the leaking. People who get upset that one picture is being portrayed and it’s not the whole picture.”
8. Prince Harry and Prince William’s strained relationship. This is yet another narrative that’s dominated the royal family for quite some time. “I was told that the underlying tensions—the rift—was actually between William and Harry,” Nicholl says. “They were a brilliant team together, but they were also fiercely competitive.”
Nicholl also addresses her Vanity Fair article alleging Prince Harry was upset that Prince William didn’t “roll out the red carpet” for Meghan when she first met everyone. “William was quite concerned that the relationship [between Harry and Meghan] had moved so quickly,” she says. “And being close to Harry—probably the only person close enough to say to Harry, ‘This seems to be moving quickly, are you sure?’ I think what was meant as well-intended brotherly advice just riled Harry. Harry is hugely protective of Meghan. He saw [William’s comment] as criticism. He interpreted that as his brother not really being behind this marriage—this union—and I don’t think things have been quite right ever since.”
9. The queen’s habit of reading “every newspaper” in the morning. This comes from Burrell (Princess Diana’s former butler). “If there’s something which disturbs her, she’ll mention it to her children,” he says.
10. The people who will make Meghan Markle’s life “hell.” Burrell has an opinion on this—though it’s only his opinion. “There are two different elements to Buckingham Palace: the royal family and the royal household. I personally think the royal household is far more difficult than the royal family,” he says. “They’re what Princess Diana called ‘the gray suits.’ They’re the ones that made Princess Diana’s life hell. They’re the ones that are going to make Meghan’s life hell too.”
11. Meghan will have to curtsy to Kate when William becomes king. According to Burrell, at least. “Whenever there’s a procession, Meghan will be down the line with Harry,” he says. “Kate will always be in front. This is going to be alien to her: going into this world and having to curtsy to everybody, including her sister-in-law in public. Meghan has to understand that’s protocol.”
On this subject, Pollard adds, “The royal family have this great tradition of using people in their staff, if they can, who’ve often been related to people who used to work for the queen’s father or the queen earlier in her reign. And suddenly they look at [Meghan] and think, ‘I’ve got a daughter who’s really pretty. Why didn’t Prince Harry marry them?’ And of course there’s bound to be a bit of jealousy.”
