Prince Harry betrays
Meghan and William’s first meeting was so devastating
Duchess Meghan, Prince Harry, Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales
© Tolga Akmen / Getty Images
The clash of cultures? In his memoirs, Prince Harry also tells of the first meeting between Duchess Meghan and his brother Prince William, which, from his point of view, turned into a small disaster.
Prince Harry’s memoir, 38, also appears to answer the final questions surrounding the troubled relationship between his wife Duchess Meghan, 41, and Catherine, Princess of Wales, 41. For years, details about it only leaked to the public through insiders.
Now it’s Harry himself who tells in “Spare” that the two women argued about Princess Charlotte, 7,’s flower girl dress for Harry and Meghan’s wedding, that Meghan accused Kate of “maternity dementia due to her hormones” and that Meghan “Trooping the Color” in 2018 allowed a joke that Kate apparently didn’t find funny at all. All stories that make it clear how different the American and the British are.
Getting to know Duchess Meghan and Prince William
For Harry, those different countries of origin and cultures are a crucial point for the rift, which he repeatedly draws attention to. These differences were already noticeable when I met Harry’s brother Prince William, 40. Meghan reportedly gave the heir apparent a Californian hug, which Harry said “completely freaked out” the royal. “He backed off. Willy didn’t hug many strangers. Whereas Meg hugged most strangers,” Harry writes, asking, “Maybe Willy expected Meg to curtsey? Protocol says that when you bring a member of the royal family to the meets for the first time.”
Kate was not present at this meeting. When the Sussexes asked where she was, William reportedly simply replied “outside with the kids.”
Were the different cultures to blame?
Even in the time that followed, there were said to have been moments when the various customs were discussed. For example, couples at a wedding in the UK are seated separately, but together in the US. And when Meghan openly confronted Kate with “maternity dementia”, William is said to have said: “Such things are not done here.”
The conflict between Meghan and the Royal Family turned out not only to be a conflict of cultures. The different personalities and attitudes to life ultimately led to the Sussexes distancing themselves more and more from Great Britain.
Sources used: dailymail.co.uk, express.co.uk, pagesix.com, “Spare” by Prince Harry