Battle of the Royals! A Timeline of Duchess Meghan and Princess Kate’s Feud
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It’s no secret that Princess Kate (née Middleton) and Duchess Meghan (née Markle) have not been the best of friends since the U.S. native officially joined the royal family in May 2018. In fact, there have been rumors going around for years that the two are not on great terms. Although neither of them has directly addressed their feud, their strained relationship has been well documented.
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Tensions between family members were further soured when Harry and the former Hollywood starlet stepped down as senior royals in January 2020 and moved to Los Angeles with their son Archie that March. The Sussexes added more fuel to the royal feud fire when they opened up about their mental health struggles and alleged racism they faced in a CBS tell-all interview in March 2021.
Scroll through the gallery below to get more details on Kate and Meghan’s friendship status.
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Kate and Meghan’s Debut
The brunette beauty joined her husband and his family for her first Christmas at Sandringham in December 2017. Harry told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that she had a “fantastic” time. It looked like the core four were all smiles as this was the first time Meghan and Kate were photographed together.
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Pals
Meghan and Kate attended a conference together in February 2018. Apparently, the two were getting along quite well since Meghan frequently stepped into her home to share “tips she’s read about healthy eating” since Kate was pregnant with baby No. 3, Us Weekly reported at the time.
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Getting Along
In March 2018, a pregnant Kate skipped Meghan’s bridal shower weekend. Then, Nicholl revealed the truth behind Kate and Meghan’s friendship. “I think they are certainly friendly, and they are spending more time with each other,” she told InStyle magazine at the time. “You know, they’re neighbors in Kensington Palace, and I know that Meghan enjoys going over to see Kate and the children, and she does enjoy that. I’m told there’s always an open invitation for her to be with Kate whenever she wants. I think that any animosity is probably a fabrication in the press. I’ve never heard to suggest that they don’t get along.”
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Very Understanding
At the Trooping the Colour event in June 2018, Meghan and Kate didn’t look like they were on the best of terms. But Kate was apparently there for Meghan after her father, Thomas Markle, gave some explosive interviews to the U.K. press. “Kate’s well aware of what Meghan is going through,” a source told Nicholl. “Her family has been dragged through the tabloids, and she knows it’s not nice. She’s made a big effort to be kind to Meghan and look out for her.”
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Doing Their Best
A second source revealed the two “speak on the phone” and “Kate makes a point of inviting Meghan over.”
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Having a Ball
The ladies appeared to have a great time at Wimbledon in 2018 since they were spotted laughing and talking with one another.
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In November 2018, Meghan and Harry revealed they’re moving from Kensington Palace to Frogmore Cottage, which meant they would no longer be neighbors with Kate and William. Hmmm … family feud?
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All Smiles
Kate and Meghan were all smiles as they walked into the St. Mary Magdalene Church at Sandringham in December 2018. The pair even wore similar outfits — long coats with a hat — for the occasion.
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So Much Drama
One month after the Meghan and Kate documentary came out, a royal filmmaker claimed the family drama started because of the brothers. “It’s actually that William and Harry had a rift,” Nick Bullen told Fox News.
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Friendly Terms
During the 2019 Trooping of the Colour event, the two women “put their differences aside,” a source exclusively told In Touch. “Kate and Meghan were nervous about seeing each other, but it wasn’t as bad as they thought it’d be.”
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Day Out
Meghan — who shares Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor with Harry — and Kate — who shares Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis with William — were spotted with their babies at the park.
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Friends … for Now
Kate and Meghan went to Wimbledon in July 2019 for the second time and looked like they had a chat while they watched the game. Ultimately, the duo will get along for the public during their royal duties. “Meghan and Kate certainly aren’t best friends, and I doubt they ever will be,” a second source told In Touch in November. “Kate has finally reached out to Meghan to remind her that she’s not alone — being a normal person who married into the royal family, to some extent Kate understands what she’s going through. They’ll be civil to each other in public, but that’s about as far as their relationship goes.”
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Bye, Bye, Bye
In January 2020, the royal family released a statement saying that Meghan and Harry will be stepping down as “senior members” of the family and will be taking steps to becoming “financially independent.”
“After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution,” the statement said. “It is with your encouragement, particularly over the last few years, that we feel prepared to make this adjustment. We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America, continuing to [honor] our duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages.”
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Home Sweet Home
Meghan and Harry completed their last official royal engagement in March 2020. The couple packed their bags and their son and moved to Montecito, California.
Shortly after the move, a source revealed to In Touch that William and Kate “respect” Harry and Meghan’s “right” to a new life, they don’t approve of “the way he’s gone about it.”
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Bombshells, Away!
The alleged rift between Kate and Meghan reached new heights when the Los Angeles native and husband sat down for their CBS interview in March 2021. Aside from revealing at the time that she was pregnant with a baby girl, Meghan also detailed the truth behind her relationship with Kate. Meghan said the media inaccurately reported the women’s fight about Charlotte’s flower girl dress for the wedding. Reports circulated at the time that it was Meghan who made Kate cry, however, she said in the interview that it was the other way around.
“Everyone in the institution knew it wasn’t true,” Meghan said, adding that the whole issue was blown way out of proportion.
“There wasn’t a confrontation,” she said. “I don’t think it’s fair to her to get into the details because she apologized, and I’ve forgiven her.”
“It was a really hard week of the wedding and she was upset about something, but she owned it, and she apologized, and she brought me flowers and a note, apologizing,” she continued.
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Royal Auntie
Harry and Meghan’s daughter Lilibet Diana was born in June 2021. Kate seemed to bury the hatchet when she said a few nice words about her new niece during a school visit with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden.
“I wish her all the very best,” Kate said during the event. “I can’t wait to meet her because haven’t yet met her. So hopefully that will be soon.”
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Birthday Shade
On August 4, 2021, William and Kate seemingly threw shade at Meghan while recognizing her birthday via Instagram Stories.
“Wishing a happy 40th birthday to the Duchess of Sussex,” the caption read along with a photo of Meghan wearing a striped Martin Grant Maxi Dress with a lei around her neck. The photo appeared to be taken during her trip to Bondi Beach in Australia with Harry in October 2018.
Many viewed the Instagram Story post as a downgrade compared to Meghan’s birthday tribute from the year prior, in which the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge posted on their feed.
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Rare Group Appearance
Kate, William, Harry and Meghan appeared to put their feud aside in order to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away on September 8, 2022. The group were seen walking together side by side and talking amongst themselves as they observed the various public tributes outside of Windsor Castle on September 10.
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Extending an Olive Branch
Before going on a trip to Boston with William in December 2022, a source told Us Weekly that Kate plans to make amends with Meghan amid their ongoing feud.
“Once Kate and William’s Boston plans are set in stone, she’s planning to extend an olive branch to Meghan in a bid to reunite the brothers and heal the rift,” the insider revealed in October.
They added that Kate believes the late Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Diana “would’ve wanted” for her and Meghan to be on good terms.
“Harry and Meghan are knee deep with their hectic schedules, but Meghan is willing to put in the effort as long as dates don’t clash,” the source said.
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Recalling Their First Meeting
Meghan opened up about the first time she met Kate in the Netflix documentary, Harry & Meghan, in December 2022.
The “Archetypes” podcast host admitted she was “surprised” by how “formal” the royal family acted behind closed doors, sharing that she showed up to the gathering in ripped jeans.
“I was a hugger and have always been a hugger. I didn’t realize that that was really jarring for a lot of Brits,” Meghan said, referencing the way she greeted Kate. “I guess I started to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside.”
“There is a forward-facing way of being, and then you close the door, and you are like, ‘Oh, great. We can relax now,’” she continued. “But that formality carries over on both sides.”
Meghan added that it’s “funny” to look back at their first interaction because she knows “so much” now. She then told cameras she’s “so glad” she didn’t know what to expect for the meeting “because I could just authentically be myself without so much preparedness.”
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Baby Brain
In Harry’s book, Spare, he reportedly recalled an incident when Meghan offended Kate by claiming she had “baby brain because of her hormones” ahead of their May 2018 wedding, a source told the Daily Mail in January 2023.
“In the book, Harry says that there was a discussion about the timing of the wedding rehearsal and the flower girl dresses and Kate was very upset,” the source claimed. “Meghan said that Kate must have ‘baby brain’ because of her hormones. It caused a huge row because Meghan was told that she wasn’t close enough to her sister-in-law to discuss her hormones and it wasn’t the way people spoke to each other within the Royal Family.”
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Bad Vibes
Although the public only saw a cordial group walking alongside each other, it turns out that Kate felt uncomfortable during the walkabout with Meghan and Harry following Queen Elizabeth II’s death in September 2022.
“Catherine later admitted to a senior royal that, such was the ill feeling between the two couples, the joint walkabout was one of the hardest things she’d ever had to do,” author Robert Jobson claimed in his book, Our King, according to the Daily Mail.
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Near Miss
Catherine and Meghan will miss having another awkward encounter as it was announced on April 12, 2023, that the former Suits star will not be attending King Charles III’s coronation in London, even though her husband, Prince Harry, will be in attendance.
“Buckingham Palace is pleased to confirm that the Duke of Sussex will attend the coronation service at Westminster Abbey on May 6,” a palace spokesperson revealed, adding, “The Duchess of Sussex will remain in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.” The last time the women were in the same place was at the September 19, 2022, funeral for Queen Elizabeth II.
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Racism Allegations
In journalist Omid Scobie’s shocking royals tell-all book, Endgame, which was released on November 28, 2023, it was revealed that not one, but two senior members of the royal family had wondered what color Meghan and Harry’s first son, Archie’s, skin would be. Though Omid said he was unable to publish the names due to U.K. laws, many speculated that Kate and Charles were the “royal racists” – a term later used by TV host Piers Morgan to describe the pair.
An alleged translation error in the Dutch version of the book also named Kate and Charles as the culprits, further fueling racist allegations toward them, though the book never hit shelves.
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A Truce Is Reached
Shortly after Endgame was published, Kate called Meghan to “clear the air” and “heal the rift once and for all,” an insider told In Touch exclusively in December 2023. Charles was the one who asked Kate to extend the olive branch, as he feels the feud is beginning to “overshadow his reign and the entire monarchy,” according to the source.
