Prince Harry says there have been “25 versions” of the story where it was reported that Meghan Markle made his sister-in-law, the Princess of Wales, cry.
Around the time of the Sussexes’ wedding, a widely publicised report emerged alleging that Meghan had made Kate Middleton cry over an argument over bridesmaids dresses.
Speaking in an ITV interview ahead of the release of his memoir Spare on Tuesday 10 January, the Duke of Sussex answered questions about how that story unfolded and its impact.
According to Harry’s memoir, Meghan was left in tears and Kate visited the following day to apologise.
Questioned on why the story was never corrected, Prince Harry said: “It's a question for them. They were more than happy to put out statements for less volatile things.
“My understanding is the reason they didn’t want to come out and say it wasn't true would therefore lead to ‘Well if it wasn't that, was it the other way round?’
“When in fact you didn’t need to confess that it was the other way round.”
Prince Harry admitted that “tensions were high” but stressed that he believed the palace could have denied the reports.
The Independent has contacted palace representatives for comment.
In her interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021, Meghan said her sister-in-law the Duchess of Cambridge made her cry, and it was not the other way around despite what was reported in the tabloids.
According to Meghan, the tabloid reports that accused the women of feuding over flower girl dresses before the royal wedding in 2018 were true to an extent, but it was the Duchess of Sussex who was made to cry.
“I don’t say that to be disparaging to anyone because it was a really hard week of the wedding and she was upset about something,” the duchess said. “A few days before the wedding, she was upset about something. Yes, the issue was correct about flower girl dresses.”
She said the timing of the issue was especially upsetting amid the uncertainty over whether her father would attend her wedding. He ultimately didn’t, after claiming to have suffered a heart attack.
“I thought in the context of everything else going on in the days leading to the wedding, it didn’t make sense to not doing what everyone else was doing, which was being supportive,” Meghan said.
Following the altercation, which Meghan said “made me cry,” she told Winfrey that Kate “owned it and apologised” with a handwritten note and flowers.
“And she did what I would do if I knew that I hurt someone, right, to just take accountability for it,” the duchess said, adding that it isn’t fair to get into the details because Kate apologised.
