New details have emerged about the heated argument between Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton in the days leading up to Meghan's wedding with Prince Harry.
The disagreement reportedly centered on the tailoring of the bridesmaid dresses, particularly that of Kate's daughter, Princess Charlotte.
In his book, Yes Ma'am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants, royal expert Tom Quinn claimed that both women were "really upset" following the exchange.
Highlights
- Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton had an argument over Princess Charlotte's bridesmaid dress days before Meghan's wedding.
- Both Meghan and Kate were deeply upset and said things they came to regret, a royal staffer claimed.
- Kate later apologized to Meghan with flowers and a card, Harry described in his book.
Initial reports portrayed Meghan in a negative light, alleging that she had made Kate cry ahead of the 2018 nuptials.
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"The truth is that during the discussions about the bridesmaid's dress Meghan said a few things she regretted and Kate said a few things she later regretted," an unnamed royal staffer told Quinn, as per Newsweek.
"But it was all in the heat of the moment.
"Both women were crying their eyes out!"
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The issue was "subtly altered" by the media and "made more significant than it really is," the worker explained.
Ultimately, it became a "marker for all the other problems that Meghan had with Kate and with William and other members of the family."
The account contradicts the version Meghan gave to Oprah Winfrey. During her bombshell 2021 interview, the Duchess of Sussex claimed the exchange "wasn't a confrontation."
The dispute was centered on the fitting of Princess Charlotte's bridesmaid dress
Image credits: meghan
Kate allegedly said something to her that she later regretted, and she eventually apologized and brought Meghan flowers.
"I don't think it's fair to her to get into the details of that, because she apologized," Meghan shared.
"What was hard to get over was being blamed for something that not only I didn't do but that happened to me.
"And the people who were part of our wedding were going to our comms team and saying, 'I know this didn't happen. I don't have to tell them what actually happened.'"
Meghan said the week before the wedding was "really hard" and denied making Kate cry, insisting instead that it was the Princess of Wales who had "hurt [her] feelings."
Image credits: princeandprincessofwales
Harry also addressed the disagreement in his 2023 memoir, Spare.
In the book, he wrote that Kate texted Meghan to discuss Charlotte's bridesmaid dress four days before the wedding, saying that it was "too big, too long, too baggy" and that she had cried when she tried it on.
The former actress then suggested that Kate have her daughter's dress adjusted by the palace tailor.
In her interview with Oprah, Meghan said Kate "hurt [her] feelings" by requesting that all bridesmaid dresses be remade
However, Kate insisted that all bridesmaid dresses had to be "remade."
The conversation allegedly escalated, and Harry returned home to find his soon-to-be wife, who was already stressed by the wedding, "sobbing" on the kitchen floor.
"I was horrified to see her so upset, but I didn't think it a catastrophe," he wrote.
"Emotions were running high, of course, after the stress of the last week, the last month, the last day. It was intolerable—but temporary. Kate hadn't meant any harm, I told her."
Image credits: princeandprincessofwales
Harry mentioned that the Princess of Wales later came to their home with a card and flowers to apologize to her sister-in-law.
Ajay Mirpui, the luxury tailor who helped with the bridesmaid dresses, told The Daily Mail that he was unaware of an argument between Kate and Meghan but confirmed that all gowns had to be fixed.
"They were faced with a problem like anyone gets at a wedding, with last-minute hitches. I can understand why anybody would be upset if the dresses weren't fitting — it's nerve-wracking," the designer said.
Harry wrote in his memoir, Spare, that he found Meghan "sobbing" on the kitchen floor after her conversation with Kate
Image credits: meghan
"I feel for them all because you wouldn't want the children to go out on a big stage in an ill-fitting dress — and that's what they were.
"All six bridesmaids' dresses had to be fixed, and we did it."
Mirpuri's team of four "had to work tooth and nail for four days" to get the dresses—reportedly made by Givenchy designer Clare Waight Keller—ready in time for the wedding, which they managed to accomplish by 10 p.m. the night before the ceremony.
A former royal worker claimed that both women were "really upset" following the dispute and said things they later regretted
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Among the claims former palace employees shared with Quinn was that Kate allegedly said she sometimes has to treat her husband, Prince William, as her "fourth child."
Cultural differences between Meghan and the British royals are also said to have caused tensions at the palace.
"The hugging and cheek-kissing fueled gossip among the staff that Meghan was flirting with William, which she was obviously not, but the tense atmosphere caused by all the touchy-feeliness (and the resultant gossip) deepened the rift between the brothers," one source claimed.
Meghan and Harry stepped down as working royals in January 2020 and moved to Montecito, located in Meghan's native Southern California.
The disagreement between the sisters-in-law continues to polarize opinions
