Princess Kate, Meghan Markle’s disagreements that drove Prince William and Prince Harry further apart

Tensions between Princess Kate and Meghan Markle were apparent from their very first meeting. But as their husbands clashed, the inevitable rift deepened into a full-blown feud.

A palace insider has recounted stories of the unravelling of the relationship between the so-called ‘Fab Four’, which began with statements made in the press by Meghan about Princess Kate’s behaviour behind closed doors, and her lack of familiarity on social occasions between the couples.

Royal biographer Tina Brown claims the media comparisons between the two women after Prince Harry introduced Meghan to Prince William and Princess Kate became a sticking point for the two women.

“Now that Meghan was a feminist hero, tensions with the more senior royal beauty, the (former) Duchess of Cambridge, offered an irresistible story to the tabloids, who always love to stoke a rivalry between women,” Ms Brown wrote in the Palace Papers..

The initial meeting was reported in the press to have gone well; however, in the Sussexes’ Netflix documentary series, Meghan recalled that she felt uncomfortable about the level of formality that remained between the two.

“Even when Will and Kate came over and I was meeting her for the first time, I remember I was in ripped jeans, I was barefoot. Like I was a hugger, I have always been a hugger. I didn’t realise that is really jarring for a lot of Brits,” Meghan said.

“I started to understand that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside, that there is a forward-facing way of being and then you close the door and think, ‘okay, we can relax now’.

“But that formality carries over on both sides, and that was surprising to me.”

Ms Brown said Meghan became concerned that she had an immediate personality clash with Princess Kate and that she found her to be ‘cool’ towards Prince Harry’s partner.

“Meghan later said she found Kate to be cool of temperament, but that’s likely because Meghan is a ‘gusher’, who hugged even the guards outside Kensington Palace,” Ms Brown said via reports in the Daily Mail.

“Kate is not a woman given to spontaneous rapport. She’d avoided recruiting new girlfriends to her inner circle/slumber party list since Marlborough and St Andrew’s.

“Preoccupied with two young children and public duty, Kate had no serious reason to see the latest and most glamorous of Harry’s string of girlfriends as a potential threat”.

Just as in the days when Princess Diana’s new updo upstaged the Queen at the opening of Parliament, the increasing media comparisons of Meghan and Kate - invariably casting Kate as dull and dutiful - began to inject tension.

The bridesmaid dress scandal

Soon after Prince Harry and Meghan announced their engagement in 2017, the former actress spoke glowingly about her relationship with Princess Kate and her efforts to welcome her into the family.

“Catherine has been absolutely amazing, as has William as well, you know, fantastic support,” Meghan said.

But as the wedding day approached, the pair were to clash over royal protocol, and the length of the bridesmaid dresses to be worn on the big day.

Reports filtered out that the two had a heated exchange, and Meghan made Kate cry during the argument over the outfits in 2018.

In his book, Revenge, Tom Bower claimed unnamed sources told him Princess Kate and Meghan disagreed over the length of Princess Charlotte’s hemline and the fit of her dress.

The Duchess of Sussex played down the disagreement during her tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey, saying “she (Kate) was upset about something, but she owned it, and she apologised. And she brought me flowers”.