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Last week saw relentless headlines about divisions between the Cambridges and Sussexes. Here, Grazia reveals the inside story on the royal rift
IT COULD BE A SCENE straight out of Downton Abbey; from the servants in the downstairs quarters to the horse grooms in the mews, there was no escaping the chatter in the royal palaces last week. The hot topic? Have William and Kate really fallen out with Meghan and Harry?
‘ There’s no smoke without fire,’ a royal insider told Grazia. ‘ Yes, there’s tension within The Firm.’
Indeed, last week was by no means an easy one for Meghan. Exactly a year after
she and Prince Harry announced their engagement, the Duchess was the subject of damaging claims about her new life – and her relationship with the other members of the royal family.
First, it was reported that Prince Harry and Meghan are due to move out of their Kensington Palace home, which is next door to Prince William and Kate Middleton, and into Frogmore Cottage in 2019 – a sign, commentators said, that they were physically distancing their courts. Frogmore is a royal residence in Windsor, which was previously (and perhaps rather ironically) once occupied by Wallis Simpson and Prince Edward.
Then there were claims that Meghan and Kate have failed to see eye-to-eye. Reports claimed Kate had been ‘left shaken and in tears’ because of Meghan’s ‘strict wedding instructions’ at a bridesmaid dress fitting with Princess Charlotte in the run-up to her marriage.
The royal drama then continued when it was claimed that the two princes themselves had also suffered a fallout before Harry and Meghan’s big day, apparently because Harry felt William ‘wasn’t rolling out the red carpet’ for his new wife as she joined The Firm.
It was also claimed that Meghan was unpopular with royal staff, with endless gossip about her going on behind closed doors and insiders speculating on their marriage, ‘giving them just five years’.
Last week’s explosive headlines come in the wake of near ceaseless reports about the nature of relations between Meghan and other members of the royal family. Earlier this month, it was reported that Princess Eugenie had been irked by the fact that Meghan announced she was pregnant during her nuptials. Then, there was news that the Queen had had to step in to advise Harry that Meghan would not always be able to get her own way: she wasn’t allowed to wear the tiara of her choice for her wedding, leading to Harry apparently saying, ‘ What Meghan wants, Meghan gets!’ in an outburst.
So, what is going on behind the scenes at Kensington Palace?
Grazia understands that Prince Harry is ‘frustrated’ at the near endless leaks coming from Kensington Palace, especially in the last week. ‘Harry is absolutely furious, and he is convinced that disgruntled aides are leaking information,’
said a royal insider. ‘He considered putting out a statement, which he famously did when they first got together. However, his advisors pushed back, saying he shouldn’t get involved. He is absolutely besotted by Meghan, and hugely protective. The more talk there is of her out there, the more protective he becomes.’
Meghan, meanwhile, has been described as ‘not to everyone’s taste’, with royal insiders saying that while William is one of the few people close enough to Harry to be honest with him, that in itself meant big problems at the start of his relationship with Meghan. ‘ William did have concerns and voiced them, which didn’t go down very well,’ said a royal source. ‘So clearly there have been some tensions.’
In the months following the wedding, it’s become apparent that there are teething problems. ‘ There have been whispers of Meghan’s difficult behaviour for a while, but I think no one wanted to rain on their parade,’ said a source. ‘ The wedding was a huge success and they did a really good job oversees in Australia. But the turning point came during “tiara gate”, because that was the first time we got a different perspective on Meghan. Then came the story about 5am emails to courtiers. It opened the floodgates.’
However, while rumours of tensions and fighting have grabbed the biggest headlines, there were also royal staff who last week spoke up in support of Meghan. ‘Meghan has a different approach to life and work, which is taking a lot of adjusting to within The Firm,’ added a royal source. ‘ They’re certainly not having the smoothest of starts to a marriage, but for most people involved this is all just friction as Harry and Meghan find their feet – and who they are within the royal show.’
Others point to the fact that she was a 36-year-old woman with a career behind her when she entered The Firm – facts that have undoubtedly led to her having a different approach, but a positive one. ‘ To some, she is a total breath of fresh air who is doing things differently,’ said the insider. ‘ The whole situation is definitely taking some getting used to but, in general, Meghan is considered within the family to have been a positive influence.’
Indeed, some speculation should be taken with a pinch of salt – especially when it comes to the new family home, Frogmore. ‘Harry is a newly married man with his own family on the way,’ added another royal source. ‘How many people stay living next door to their older brother and his wife at that stage in their lives?’
Meanwhile, talk of friction between Meghan and her new sister-in-law appeared to be dispelled by Kate herself last week, during an official engagement in Leicester. There she told onlookers how excited she was about Meghan and Harry’s baby. ‘It’s such a special time to have all the kiddies,’ she said.
‘Kate is very clever,’ said a royal source. ‘She knows that these stories about them not getting on shouldn’t be out there – that’s why she commented. Kate has gone out of her way to make Meghan feel comfortable. But in reality, they are very different women; they’ve got different personalities. They were never going to be best friends.’
Observers have also been quick to point
There have been whispers of meghan’s difficult behaviour
out that Meghan has, at many points throughout her first year as part of the family, been happily accepted by the royal family. She and the Queen, for example, got on ‘famously’ while on their first royal engagement together in June. Plus, there have been reports that Meghan has in fact acted as something of a ‘peacemaker’ between Harry and his father Prince Charles, with whom she is thought to get on well. Earlier this year, it was revealed that the Queen had even invited her mother, Doria Ragland, to Sandringham to spend Christmas with the family.
Indeed, Christmas is the next major event in the House of Windsor calendar when all members of the family traditionally come together. But last week there was talk that William and Kate wouldn’t be present.
‘ William and Kate do alternate Christmases; one year at Sandringham, then the next with the Middletons,’ says royal expert and author of Harry: Life, Loss And Love, Kate Nicholl. ‘James Middleton hinted recently that they were all going to be together at Christmas. Remember, Pippa’s just had a little boy; and it’s Louis’ first Christmas. William promised Kate when they got married that she would always stay close to her family – and Christmas was one of those things that Kate was adamant she wouldn’t give up.’
Another source added: ‘If they spend Christmas apart, it will probably be more to do with alternating years. But saying that, clearly there doesn’t appear to be a close bond between them at the moment, so that could also be a deciding factor. From what I understand, the invitations haven’t gone out yet…’