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Finally, Prince Harry’s memoir Spare has been released to the world, dropping overnight in book stores, online and on Audible, read by the man himself. Despite leaks ahead of time concerning everything from how and when the Duke of Sussex lost his virginity to physical fights with his older brother, Prince William, the pages of Spare provide even more in-depth details of what went on behind palace walls and what really happened concerning stories leaked to the press.
According to Page Six and Hello!, whose staff have made it further into the book than I yet have, one tabloid story Harry clears up – with receipts! – is what happened between his wife Meghan Markle and his sister-in-law Kate Middleton ahead of his and Markle’s May 2018 wedding.
At the time, there were reports that Markle made Middleton cry ahead of the day, with the couple staying quiet until their 2021 Oprah interview during which Markle revealed the opposite actually happened.
Prince Harry explains in Spare that Middleton was upset with how her daughter Princess Charlotte’s bridesmaid dress fit four days before the wedding and texted Markle about it, leading to a tense conversation that led to Markle crying.
But that’s not all, Prince Harry even provided transcripts of the texts the women sent.
Per Prince Harry and Page Six: ‘Kate texting Meghan that: “Charlotte’s dress is too big, too long, too baggy. She cried when she tried it on at home.”’
Markle responded, “Right, and I told you the tailor has been standing by since 8am. Here. At KP. Can you take Charlotte to have it altered, as the other mums are doing?”
Kate then allegedly replied: “all the dresses [needed to] be remade,” and that she had consulted her own wedding dress designer about it who agreed.
Markle then asked Middleton is she was aware of what was going on right now with her father [Thomas Markle], to which the Princess of Wales reportedly responded, “she was well aware, but the dresses. And the wedding is in four days!”
According to Prince Harry, Middleton then reportedly began texting about “problems with the way Meg was planning her wedding. Something about a party for the page boys? It went back and forth.” At one point, Markle said, “I’m not sure what else to say. If the dress doesn’t fit then please take Charlotte to see Ajay. He’s been waiting all day.” According to Harry, Middleton responded, “Fine.”
Harry writes that, when he came home, he found his wife-to-be “sobbing” on the floor.
Shortly after the tabloid report came out about the two women’s fight, insinuating Markle made Middleton cry and not the other way around, Harry wrote that the two couples met secretly at his and Markle’s then-home Nottingham Cottage on December 10, 2018. During the meeting, the foursome realised it was likely that their dad, King Charles III’s press office, who planted the negative story.
Markle originally talked about the incident during a 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, in which she refuted the tabloid story that claimed she made Middleton cry. “I don’t think it’s fair to her to get into the details of [the fight], because she apologised. And I’ve forgiven her. What was hard to get over was being blamed for something that not only I didn’t do, but that happened to me,” she said. “And the people who were part of our wedding going to our comms team and saying, ‘I know this didn’t happen.'”