In Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle’s frosty relationship

Kate Middleton turns 41 on Monday – a day before her son-in-law Prince Harry’s much-hyped memoir “Spare” finally goes on sale.

These probably won’t be the happiest of days for the princess.

“Harry and Meghan always have a knack for timing,” said a senior royal source who knows Prince William and Kate. The Prince and Princess of Wales, the source said, have been left “spinning” by Harry’s bombshell book.

But it wasn’t always like that. In fact, when William popped the question to Kate after eight years together, his younger brother Harry was thrilled, saying in 2010 of his brother’s wedding: “It means I’m going to have a sister, which I’ve always wanted.”

However, the woman Harry once spoke of in glowing terms is portrayed as cold and uncaring in his book.

“Kate, William and Harry were such good friends, they were inseparable,” the Welsh source said. “These are the words of a man so literally blinded by love that he cannot see properly.”

But in ‘Spare’ Harry blames Kate for taking his beloved brother ‘Willy’ away from him, writing that after their wedding in April 2011: “The brother I accompanied to Westminster Abbey that morning is gone—for ever. Who could deny it?

Controversially, Harry wrote how he had long dreamed of building a working partnership with William, Kate and his own wife – even before he met and fell in love with the Suits star in 2016.

“I also said that I couldn’t wait for them to meet her, that I looked forward to the four of us spending a lot of time together, and admitted for the umpteenth time that it had long been my dream to join them with an equal partner. To become a four,” Harry wrote.

Instead, Kate and Markle have never been close friends.

Since her relationship with the prince was revealed, Markle has been publicly compared to Kate, The future Queen of Great Britain: the English rose versus the outspoken American actress.

In Harry’s new memoir

According to Harry’s book, when the spotlight turned on Markle, Kate felt she was “forced to compete with Meg.” He describes how Kate “made a face” when Markle asked to borrow some lip gloss at their first ‘Fab Four’ event, an appearance at the Royal Foundation Forum in February 2018.

The Duke of Sussex wrote that the walkout marked the beginning of the separation of women from the press after journalists “felt” tension during the panel.

“I think it made Kate nervous as she noticed her and everyone else that she would now be compared and forced to compete with Meg,” Harry wrote.

He adds that Kate was furious in 2018 when Markle accused her of having a ‘baby brain’ after the birth of Prince Louis and demanded that Markle apologize.

Harry then said the couple met for tea at Kensington Palace in June 2018 to try to reconcile.

However, the prince claimed that Kate told her new daughter-in-law: “You’re talking about my hormones. We’re not close enough for you to be talking about my hormones!”

Harry, now 38, recalled how “offended” Kate gripped her chair so hard her fingers turned white.

“I can imagine Harry and William falling out, to be honest. I think William is pretty fired up,” the Welsh source said. “But Kate was one of Harry’s biggest supporters so it’s really heartbreaking.”

Despite the scathing comments, the source insisted that William and Kate will not be torn apart by the book, saying: “They are so united, they are made of such strong stuff.” Still, “everyone is quite shocked, shaking. Let’s be honest, it was blow after blow after blow.

“This is so disrespectful, so offensive and [the book is just delivering the last blow. It’s like when you’re in the boxing ring and there’s the knockout punch — there’s no way back.”

In Harry and Markle’s infamous 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Markle, now 41, confirmed that she felt she had been held to a different standard than Kate.

Winfrey shared a media story in which Kate was celebrated for cradling her baby bump — while a later story about Markle doing the same thing had the headline: “Meghan Can’t Keep Hands Off Baby Bump for Pride or Vanity.”

“I don’t know why. I can see now what layers were at play there,” Markle told Winfrey.
“[The press] he really seemed to want a hero and villain narrative.

While Markle was happy to talk, Kate stuck to the royal family’s oft-repeated motto – “Never complain, never explain” – and, like her husband and the rest of her family, remained silent.

Markle herself stated this in the recent Netflix documentary series Harry and Meghan. Kate was “official” behind closed doors.

“Even when Will and Kate came and I first met her, I remember I was in ripped jeans, I was barefoot,” she said.

The Duchess of Sussex added that she had “always been a hugger” and didn’t realize how “embarrassing” it was for “a lot of British people”.

But an insider retaliated by saying this to People magazine Kate is a hugger, adding: “She is warm and friendly and greets everyone with a big hug and kiss. It’s natural for her to be like that.

There was also a row over the bridesmaid dress for princess charlotte, William and Kate’s daughter, for the Sussexes’ wedding in May 2018. While reports say Markle made Kate cry, Markle told Winfrey it was the other way around; Harry wrote that he arrived home after the accident to find his fiancee on the floor sobbing.

“I was horrified to see [Meghan] so upset but I didn’t think it was a crash,” he wrote, downplaying the situation. “Indeed the next morning Kate came over with flowers and a card saying she was sorry.”

As Page Six previously reported, Kate has strong family support with her parents Carole and Mike Middleton, as well as her sister Pippa and brother James, and the family has embraced William. Meanwhile, Harry appears to have bonded with Markle’s mother, Doria.

Asked what Harry’s book means for his relationship with William and Kate, the source, who knows the Wells, said: “I hope there were moments of conscience for Harry when he was writing this. I think there was a point where people thought it was going to be a smarter, less provocative, less tabloid book, but here we are.”