When Prince Harry’s highly anticipated memoir Spare was released in January 2023, one of the most talked-about revelations involved a reported disagreement between Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton over bridesmaid dresses.
A chilly relationship
Tension between Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Kate, Princess of Wales, has reportedly existed since Harry publicly confirmed his relationship with the Suits actress in 2016. Prince William was also said to have questioned Harry’s confidence in the relationship early on.
Although Meghan and Harry married in 2018, the years that followed were marked by their dramatic decision to step back from royal duties and relocate to the United States.
Now settled in California, the couple have spoken out about what they claim was mistreatment from the royal family — especially toward Meghan — sharing their story through high-profile interviews and a Netflix series.
Harry, now 40, also published a memoir where he described several occasions in which his brother William and sister-in-law Kate allegedly mistreated Meghan — including a tense disagreement over a bridesmaid dress.
The bridesmaid dress dispute
In the book, Harry recalls that four days before their wedding, Kate messaged Meghan, saying the custom-made “French Couture” bridesmaid dresses needed to be redone because Princess Charlotte’s dress didn’t fit.
According to Harry, Kate — a mother of three — had said the dresses were “too big, too long, too baggy,” and that Charlotte had cried when she tried hers on.
“Meg didn’t respond to Kate right away,” Harry wrote. “She was overwhelmed with wedding planning, and more importantly, dealing with the drama involving her father. The next morning, she replied that our tailor was available. But that wasn’t good enough.”
He shared Meghan’s message at the time: “Right, and I told you the tailor has been standing by since 8am. Here. At KP.”
Prince Harry recalled a tense moment before his wedding, when Meghan asked Kate, “Can you take Charlotte to have it altered, as the other mums are doing?” He claimed that Kate, who was also 43 at the time, responded by saying that all of the bridesmaids’ dresses needed to be remade. According to Harry, he later found Meghan crying on the floor, overwhelmed by the situation.
In his memoir, Harry wrote that Kate came by the next day with flowers and a card to apologize.
However, some reports suggest Kate may have had her own reasons for reacting the way she did — reasons that came under intense public scrutiny after Harry’s book was released.
Kate’s perspective
When criticism started to mount against Kate for allegedly making Meghan cry, a royal insider offered some context. They explained that Kate had recently given birth to Prince Louis and was emotionally fragile at the time. The insider also confirmed that Kate did, in fact, apologize to Meghan the next day.
According to other sources who spoke to The Telegraph, it was actually Kate who ended up in tears after her daughter’s bridesmaid dress fitting — not Meghan, as previously claimed.
We may never get the full story, but let’s be honest — the drama is too good to ignore.