Prince William and Princess Kate’s ‘clear-the-air’ talks with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle revealed

In the lead-up to the Sussexes’ royal wedding, there were reported moments of tension behind the scenes, including tears over a bridesmaid dress disagreement. While there were smiles from the Fab Four — as Prince William, Princess Catherine, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were briefly dubbed — on the big day itself, a conversation between the two couples took place two months later, one that is said to have “not bode well for the future”.

In his forthcoming book William & Catherine: The Intimate Inside Story, author Russell Myers reveals that the Prince and Princess of Wales invited Harry and their new sister-in-law over for a discussion to clear the air.

“The country was swept up in a wave of emotion and goodwill towards the couple on their wedding day on 19 May 2018. But relations inside the palace could not have been more different. By July 2018, William and Catherine had invited Harry and Meghan to their home to stage clear-the-air talks,” Russell writes. “The resulting exchange did not bode well for the future.”

According to Russell, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex “were unwilling to concede they were responsible for the departure of two of Meghan’s PAs, or for the general desperate atmosphere, in which members of staff reported they were sick with stress,” and Prince William “accused Meghan of being difficult and rude and according to Harry, pointed directly at his wife.”

Less than a year after the discussion at the Waleses’ home, the Sussexes went on to split households from Prince William and Catherine. “Harry and Meghan’s distrust of their senior team had begun just months after their wedding, amid mounting concern over their treatment of royal aides,” Russell writes in his book, with a palace source describing the relations between the Sussexes and staff as “very, very bad”.

“It had reached an intolerable situation for so many of them, there were a lot of issues surrounding people needing time off work, not wanting to come in or be on engagements on duty with Harry or Meghan,” the source told Russell. “Everything possible was being done at all stages to help them but nothing was ever good enough.”

Buckingham Palace announced in March 2019 that Queen Elizabeth had agreed to the creation of a new household for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and given them permission to base their household office at Buckingham Palace. “This long-planned move will ensure that permanent support arrangements for The Duke and Duchess’s work are in place as they start their family and move to their official residence at Frogmore Cottage,” the palace explained.

Five days short of a year after the announcement was issued, the Duke and Duchess made their final public appearance as working members of the royal family at the 2020 Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey. Both Meghan and Harry would officially be stepping back from royal duties at the end of March 2020 to, as they said on their former Sussex Royal website, “live a more independent life as a family, by removing the supposed ‘public interest’ justification for media intrusion into their lives.”

Sources close to the Waleses revealed to Russell that “William was intensely saddened at his brother’s decision to quit. He and Harry had been drifting apart for years, but now he knew deep down that there would be no turning back.”

“He would be losing his brother for ever and his children would lose their uncle and almost certainly not have a relationship with their cousins in the future. Fond memories of their childhood, from helping each other through the tragedy of their mother’s death, to growing up in the public eye, were now tarnished by the division at the heart of the family.”