Royal reputations tarnished? Prince William and Princess Kate aren’t too happy about being major characters in Prince Harry‘s bombshell book, a source exclusively tells Us Weekly.
The Prince and Princess of Wales, both 40, are “very upset about Harry’s revelations,” the insider says. “It’s hit them very hard. They’re both confiding in each other right now.”
According to the source, the future king and queen would have rather “handled these issues behind closed doors” and “wished Harry wasn’t so public and cutting” with his accusations about the royal family.
The debut memoir from the 38-year-old Duke of Sussex, titled Spare, began making headlines even before its Tuesday, January 10, release. In early excerpts obtained by Us, Harry describes his childhood bond with William, the death of mother Princess Diana, conflict with his brother and Kate over Meghan Markle and more.
Prince William and Princess Kate at the Britain US Royals Environmental Prize Event, December 2022. Mary Schwalm/AP/Shutterstock
One chapter outlines a particularly tense afternoon with the Cambridge couple that allegedly ended in a “shouting” match. Harry and Meghan, 41, sat down for tea with William and Kate in June 2018 “to clear the air” of any suspected drama leading up to the Sussexes’ wedding one month prior.
The former military pilot recalled making the “classic small talk” with his brother and sister-in-law before Meghan broke the ice. The Suits alum suggested that she and Kate might have “got off on the wrong foot” long before their row about Princess Charlotte’s bridesmaids dress for the May 2018 ceremony. (Meghan was accused of making Kate cry over the frocks, but the actress has since claimed that she was the one left in tears.)
As the “airing of grievances” continued, Harry alleged that William and his wife were upset that they didn’t receive Easter presents from the Archewell cofounders. Harry maintained that exchanging gifts at Easter had “never” been a tradition for the royals, expressing his confusion over the supposed controversy.
The dynamic shifted even further, however, when Kate told Meghan her feelings were hurt by a comment the Bench author made weeks before the nuptials. The California native had teased that the Duchess of Cornwall, who welcomed son Prince Louis in April 2018, had “baby brain” — and Kate didn’t take kindly to the remark.
“We’re not close enough for you to talk about my hormones,” Kate allegedly told Meghan, who asserted that she meant no harm by the playful comment.
Harry recalled his wife apologizing to Kate, but William was still unhappy. “Willy pointed at Meg. ‘It’s rude, Meghan. It’s not what’s done here in Britain,’” the younger royal wrote.
While members of the royal family have been tight-lipped about Harry’s claims, the Invictus Games founder has expressed a desire to mend fences with his brother and dad King Charles III. Royal expert Jonathan Sacerdoti, however, is skeptical that the tension can be dissolved.
“I would say they’re not likely to be having complex or emotional discussions behind the scenes, because … they’re probably very afraid to because they’re worried that it will just be on Netflix or on Spotify or in a book or told to Gayle King or to Anderson Cooper,” the author exclusively told Us ahead of Spare‘s release. “I don’t think that is how you make peace within any family, but one that’s so in the public eye, so much under the public gaze, I don’t think it stands any chance.”