SHOWDOWN AT THE PALACE
February 27, 2017
As Meghan Markle steps into the spotlight, tension with Kate Middleton builds
After lying low for months, Prince Harry and his girlfriend, Meghan Markle, were finally ready to show off their romance on Feb. 1. As they left London’s Soho House, Harry and Meghan held hands in public for the first time, making global headlines and delighting an entire country. “They are madly in love,” confirms a royal insider.
But not everyone was thrilled by the PDA. Tension has long been brewing between the Suits star and Harry’s sister-in-law Kate Middleton, and now their tension is threatening to become a showdown at the palace. Upset that Meghan is stealing the spotlight from her family and herself, Kate is trying to bar the American actress from her sister Pippa’s May wedding to James Matthews. “They’re locked in a huge fight,” the insider says. “Harry and Meghan want to use the wedding to make a really public declaration of their love, but Kate doesn’t want Meghan overshadowing her sister at her own wedding. There are massive arguments going on behind the scenes.”
PROTECTIVE BIG SIS
While Kate, 35, is thrilled that Harry has found love, she also wants everything
to be perfect on Pippa’s big day — which means Meghan should have the good grace to stay home. “She feels Meghan should understand that she’d be upstaging Pippa if she went,” the insider says. Although invites haven’t gone out yet, Harry clearly is one of the wedding’s most important guests — and he wants very much to bring his new love. Kate thinks Meghan “should bow out,” says the insider.
Harry and Meghan think Kate is overreacting. Meghan wants to spend as much time with Harry as possible, and “her friends think it would be odd for her to turn down his invitation,” the insider says. “Everyone knows they’re a
couple now, so what’s the big deal?”
ICY RELATIONS
Even before the wedding battle began, Kate was resentful of Meghan. Since Prince William, 34, is the future king, he and Kate had to stick to royal protocol throughout their relationship. Meghan, 35, and the “spare heir,” 32, aren’t held to the same standards, which Kate thinks is unfair. “She’s annoyed that Meghan has basically moved into Harry’s place at Kensington Palace,” says the insider, “while Kate and William had to be ‘royally proper’ about their relationship and couldn’t live there together until they were engaged.”
Kate’s also been stung by recent backlash from the U.K. press, which has criticized her light work schedule and dubbed her “The Duchess of Do-little” and “Lazy Katie.” She feels she’s worked tirelessly to win the media over, only to see newspapers fawning over Meghan’s humanitarian work and fashion sense, says the insider: “They act like she’s Kate, but even better.” Kate can’t bear to see her sister upstaged in the same way, but that now seems unavoidable. “Harry may even announce an engagement to Meghan before the wedding,” the insider says. “Then, when he brings her, there will be even more attention on her. Kate is furious!”