Things between the former royal Fab Four—Kate Middleton, Prince William, Meghan Markle, and Prince Harry—have just about hit rock bottom following the release of Harry’s memoir Spare and his and Meghan’s Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan. A source who knows both couples told Entertainment Tonight yesterday that “[their] relationship has completely broken down.”
A separate source said Kate feels “hurt and disappointed” over what Harry has shared about her in Spare because she believes “private matters had been made public.” She was particularly upset about Harry revealing that her relationship with Meghan never took off, considering she and Harry used to be so close, the source added. Harry portrayed Kate as being pretty cold to Meghan in the book.
Kate and William have not commented publicly about either of Harry’s projects. They were very cheery, smiley, and business-as-usual at their public event yesterday.
In his 60 Minutes interview Sunday, Harry discussed how the royal family typically uses “anonymous sources” to speak on their behalf to the media. The family publicly maintains a “never complain, never explain” policy but in reality, that’s not entirely true, Harry said. He added that he has never briefed media against this family, even though they have done so about Meghan, he alleged. Ultimately, he decided to tell his story in his own words after trying to discuss issues privately with his family to no avail.
“So now, trying to speak a language that perhaps they [the royals] understand, I will sit here and speak truth to you with the words that come out of my mouth, rather than using someone else, an unnamed source, to feed in lies or a narrative to a tabloid media that literally radicalizes its readers to then potentially cause harm to my family, my wife, my kids,” Harry said.
Harry also revealed in the interview that he and William haven’t spoken in “a while,” but he was hopeful about the possibility of improving their relationship.
“Currently, no,” he said when asked if he has talked to or texted with William recently. “But I look forward to—I look forward to us being able to find peace.”
In order for Harry and Meghan’s relationship with William and Kate—let alone with the rest of the royal family—to improve, there needs to be honest private discussions that stay private, Harry said.
“The ball is very much in their court, but, you know, Meghan and I have continued to say that we will openly apologize for anything that we did wrong, but every time we ask that question, no one’s telling us the specifics or anything,” Harry said. “There needs to be a constructive conversation, one that can happen in private that doesn’t get leaked.”
Senior News and Strategy Editor
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.