Prince Harry once shared his brother’s rather explicit reaction upon learning that Meghan Markle was an actress.
The relationship between royal brothers William and Harry has been strained, especially since Harry’s 2018 wedding to Meghan Markle. The tensions between the two, as well as between their wives, Meghan and Kate, have been well-documented, including in Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare, released last year.
In the memoir, the Duke of Sussex reflected on William and Kate’s response to Meghan’s background.
“I casually mentioned that there was… a new woman in my life. They leaned in. ‘Who is she?’” Harry recounted. “She’s an actress. ‘Oh?’ She’s American. ‘Oh.’ On a show called Suits. Their jaws dropped. They turned to each other. Then Willy looked at me and said: ‘F*** off?’”
Harry had initially been concerned they might judge Meghan for her acting career and not accept her into the royal family, but that wasn’t the case. He was taken aback by his brother’s response until William and Kate explained they were avid fans of the legal drama.
“All this time I thought Willy and Kate might not welcome Meg into the family, but now I had to worry about them hounding her for an autograph,” Harry wrote.
Initially, Harry, Meghan, William, and Kate appeared to get along well, even being dubbed the “Fab Four” in the media. However, their relationship deteriorated leading up to Harry and Meghan’s wedding in May 2018.
In Spare, Harry also touched on a well-known disagreement over bridesmaid dresses. He recalled that Kate contacted Meghan four days before the wedding, saying the dresses needed alterations.
“Meg didn’t reply to Kate immediately,” he explained. “Yes, she had a lot of wedding-related messages, but she was mainly dealing with the chaos surrounding her father [Thomas Markle Snr underwent heart surgery and couldn’t attend the wedding]. The next morning, she texted Kate that our tailor was available. That wasn’t enough.
“Meg asked if Kate was aware of what was happening with her father. Kate said she knew, but the dresses needed attention. And the wedding was in four days!”
Meghan reportedly replied, “Yes, Kate, I know…”
Harry described how the argument left Meghan “sobbing on the floor.” Later, Kate came around with flowers and a card to apologize for the misunderstanding.
At the time of Spare‘s release, the Royal Family chose not to comment on Harry’s claims.