Are you confused about the history behind Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s feud with the royal family? Refresh your memories ahead of their widely-publicized and highly controversial trip to the UK with this little cheat sheet, detailing some of the most crucial moments from the past few years…
January 2017 – Meghan meets William and Kate, William thinks Harry is rushing things
The first sign of things not being completely rosy was when Harry introduced Meghan to brother William and sister-in-law Kate Middleton in January 2017. According to several sources, Meghan wasn’t greeted with the open arms Harry had hoped, as William allegedly told his younger brother that he felt he was rushing things and moving too fast with the Suits actress. Yikes! According to Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand in Finding Freedom, Harry wasn’t happy with his brother’s suggestion that he was “blindsided by lust” and didn’t appreciate his advice to “take as much time as you need to get to know this girl.” As per Finding Freedom: “Some felt it was an overreaction. But then, this sums them up as people — William, the calm and rational one, and Harry, who can’t help but take things far too personally.”
May 2017 – Tensions rise between Prince Harry and the Middletons as Meghan isn’t invited to Pippa Middleton’s wedding
When Kate’s younger sister got married to James Matthews, they had a strict “no ring no bring” guest list. As Harry and Meghan were not yet married or even engaged, Meghan was not invited to the main wedding, which reportedly caused a lot of tension between the prince and the Middleton family. Meghan was, however, invited to the reception, which she did attend.
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November 2017 – Harry and Meghan announce their engagement!
Perhaps one of the only moments in this timeline that doesn’t involve a lot of drama! Meghan also revealed that she had finally met the Queen, and the two ladies reportedly hit it off! “It’s incredible, I think, you know, a) to be able to meet her through his lens, not just with his honor and respect for her as the monarch, but the love that he has for her as his grandmother, all of those layers have been so important for me,” she said at the time. “So that when I met her, I had such a deep understanding and of course incredible respect for being able to have that time with her. … She’s an incredible woman.”
December 2017 – Meghan spends Christmas with the royal family
Meghan made history by becoming the first fiancée to have Christmas with the royal family!
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May 2018 – Drama surrounding the royal wedding, including a feud with Meghan’s estranged father, and an alleged feud with Kate over bridesmaid dresses
Where do we start?! Let’s begin with Meghan’s ongoing feud with her father, Thomas Markle, who was accused of leaking stories about his daughter to the press prior to the wedding. When he opted not to attend the royal wedding, Prince Charles offered to step in for his soon-to-be daughter-in-law and walk her down the aisle, although according to some reports that were released after the wedding, it was Meghan’s idea to meet her “half way” down the aisle.
Feud with Kate – Perhaps the most infamous feud surrounding the royal wedding was the one between Meghan and Kate. Both ladies have accused the other of making them cry over a row about bridesmaids dresses, but according to the latest reports, it was allegedly Meghan who made Kate cry. Meghan told Oprah in March 2021 that Kate sent Meghan flowers to apologize for their disagreement, while other reports have claimed that Meghan threw the flowers away. So much drama!
Was there a feud with the Queen regarding the tiara? – For those unfamiliar with the tiara-gate scandal, allow us to recap. Meghan reportedly picked out an emerald tiara originally, but her request was denied by the Queen, ultimately wearing Queen Mary's Diamond Bandeau Tiara on the big day instead. According to royal biographer and historian Robert Lacey in his book Battle of Brothers: William and Harry – The Inside Story of a Family in Tumult: "Unconfirmed by the palace - but not denied - we were told that the Queen felt that she had to say 'no' to Meghan's first choice, a beautiful emerald headdress that was said 'to have come from Russia.'
Lacey continued: "This was code for a sensitive origin, meaning that the treasure was one of those that had found its way into Windsor hands through 'undefined' not to say dodgy channels—and for an undisclosed price—in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution. There was scandal attached. For this reason, the emerald tiara was seldom, if ever, put on public display and it would suit neither the palace nor Meghan herself that spring if newspapers started speculating about which Tsarist princess had worn the tiara and how she had been assassinated."
Lacey then went on to say that Harry, ever the defensive and supportive husband, "flew into a rage" when his bride-to-be was told she couldn’t have her first choice, although he was allegedly not aware of the history behind it. "Unfortunately, Harry's ignorance of both history and family tradition meant that he had no understanding of this subtlety," Lacey added.
July 2018 – Alleged tension between the Duchesses at Wimbledon
If the pictures of Meghan and Kate at Wimbledon were anything to go by, the ladies appeared to be having a great time together. However, Meghan told Oprah during *that* interview that things weren’t what they seemed! When asked about their joint Wimbledon outing, Meghan said: "I know you say, 'Was it what it looked like?’ — my understanding and my experience for the past four years is that it’s nothing like what it looks like."
October 2018 – Pregnancy announcement and upstaging the bride?
It isn’t just the immediate royal family who Harry and Meghan have had issues with, as his cousin Princess Eugenie also wasn’t happy with them back in 2018! Harry and Meghan announced they were expecting their first child back in October 2018, three days after Princess Eugenie wed Jack Brooksbank; and according to Scobie and Durand, the giddy new-parents-to-be couldn’t stop discussing the pregnancy at the wedding, which "didn’t go down particularly well with Eugenie, who a source said told friends she felt the couple should have waited to share the news."
November-December 2018 – Meghan feels she has no voice
Harry and Meghan moved to Frogmore Cottage in Windsor in November 2018, with sources revealing that Meghan was upset that she received bad press when her personal assistant, Melissa Toubati, and secretary, Samantha Cohen, quit just six months after the royal wedding, and wasn’t able to defend herself because of the royal protocol.
"It’s just been frustrating and stressful to have no voice," a source told Us Weekly. "She’s always relied on her own voice to stand up for others, and for herself. So not being able to say anything is a debilitating feeling. She’s always been so independent, her entire life, and that’s all been taken away from her. She’s always been able to clap back on social media and now she can’t."
Harry's 'showgirl'
At the same time, rumor had it that the palace staff didn’t "trust" Meghan, with one member of staff reportedly saying that the former actress "comes with a lot of baggage," while another staffer reportedly referred to her as "Harry’s showgirl."
January 2019 – Meghan says she wanted treatment for her mental health, but was denied
According to her Oprah interview, when Meghan was five months pregnant with son Archie in January 2021, she claimed that things had gotten so bad that she asked to get some help for her mental health. But her request was allegedly denied! Meghan told Oprah that the royal family said seeking help "wouldn't be good for the institution."
"One of the things that still haunts me is this photograph that someone had sent me, we had to go to an official event at the Royal Albert Hall," Meghan recalled. "A friend said, 'I know that you don't look at pictures, but oh my God, you guys look so great' and sent it to me. I zoomed in and what I saw was the truth of what that moment was. Because right before we had to leave for that, I had just told Harry that I didn’t want to be alive anymore that morning."
March 2019 – Household and charity split from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
Harry and Meghan split their royal household from William and Kate in March 2019, and the couples officially split their charity a few months later. The cracks were definitely beginning to show!
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May 2019 – Archie not being given a royal title
Another huge blow to Harry and Meghan was when it was revealed that their son Archie would not be given a royal title, unlike Prince William's children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. They told Oprah that they had been given "no explanation" as to why their son wouldn’t receive a royal title or the subsequent security that comes with it.
The color of Archie's skin
Meghan also told Oprah that it was around this time that someone in the royal family was talking about how dark Archie's skin might be when he was born.
October 2019 – Prince Harry confirms the feud with his brother, Kate and Meghan not "best friends."
Several sources confirmed that Meghan and Kate were "civil" to each other, but would "never be best friends" due to having very little in common. It was also around this time that Prince Harry confirmed the tensions with his brother, as proven by the fact that he and Meghan chose not to spend Christmas 2019 with the royal family!
November and December 2019 – Harry and Meghan don’t spend Christmas with the royal family
Buckingham Palace’s official statement said that Harry and Meghan had "the support of Her Majesty the Queen" to spend Christmas elsewhere, but it was later suggested that the monarch was actually "disappointed" with their decision.
January 2020 – Megxit
Harry and Meghan announced their plans to step down as senior royals in January 2020, with sources saying that the Queen was embarrassed by how it was handled. According to Us Weekly, the Queen was "so disappointed that her own grandchild would heap so much embarrassment on the monarchy and bring all this unwanted attention on his family at the worst possible time." Two months later, it was revealed that William and Kate were "blindsided" by Megxit, and reportedly only had a handful of business meetings with the couple since.
February 2021
Harry and Meghan reveal that they are expecting their second child, and receive congratulatory messages from the Palace, but not William and Kate!
Also February 2021 – Prince Harry is stripped of some of his royal patronages as Megxit looks more permanent
"Following conversations with the duke, the queen has written confirming that in stepping away from the work of the royal family it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service," the palace said in a statement in February 2021. The statement continued: "The honorary military appointments and royal patronages held by the duke and duchess will therefore be returned to Her Majesty before being redistributed among working members of the royal family. While we are all saddened by their decision, the duke and duchess remain much-loved members of the family."
The Sussexes then hit back, saying that they would still be "committed" to their duty and service, with or without an 'official' role. "As evidenced by their work over the past year, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex remain committed to their duty and service to the U.K. and around the world and have offered their continued support to the organizations they have represented regardless of official role. We can all live a life of service. Service is universal," their statement read.
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March 2021 – the infamous bombshell Oprah interview
There were so many bombshells dropped during Harry and Meghan's tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey, including the royal family member who questioned the color of Archies skin, the allegations that Megan had her personal items taken away from her, was silenced, and was also refused mental health help, and that Prince Charles "stopped taking" his son's calls after Megxit to name just a few.
And it is because of some of these bombshells, according to many sources, that Prince William is reportedly unable to fully forgive his brother and end the feud once and for all.
March 2022 – Harry didn’t attend his grandfather's funeral
Harry came under fire for not flying to the UK for Prince Philip's funeral. Meghan was heavily pregnant at the time so was on doctor's orders to stay home, but Harry received a lot of criticism for failing to attend.
June 2022 – Drama at the Platinum Jubilee
There was a lot of "will they, won't they?" when it came to whether Harry and Meghan would attend the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations. However, despite flying to the UK for the occasion, they were missing from quite a few official engagements, and were even 'demoted' to the second row in St Paul's Cathedral for the Service of Thanksgiving. Sources claimed that neither William nor Harry looked at, let alone spoke to each other, and it was all very awkward. There were also many reports surrounding the iconic Buckingham Palace balcony, with some reports claiming that the Queen asked for only working members of the royal family to be present on the balcony, to avoid any drama, while other sources claim that it was Harry and Meghan themselves who asked to not stand on it.
To add to the tension, William and Kate declined an invitation to Harry and Meghan's daughter Lilibet's first birthday, and Harry and Meghan made an early departure, choosing to fly back to the US before the final jubilee concert had even finished.
