The Gist
Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle were outwardly friendly throughout the latter’s royal tenure, but allegedly experienced tension behind the scenes.
A turning point in the sister-in-laws’ relationship was a disagreement before Meghan and Prince Harry’s 2018 wedding, which reportedly left both women in tears.
The royals are believed to have last spoken in September 2022, when they put on a united front at Queen Elizabeth’s funeral.
Once upon a time, Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle seemed poised to be fast friends. Both fell in love with a prince. Both were suddenly thrust into the spotlight as they learned how to adjust to life within the monarchy. Both have a known passion for jam. But somewhere along the line, the fairytale friendship between the sister-in-laws seemed to fall apart.
Feud rumors and reports of behind-the-scenes tensions dominated the tabloids in the late 2010s—and once Meghan and husband Prince Harry moved their family to the U.S. in 2020, their relationships with Kate and Prince William seemed to cease altogether. They were briefly reunited in September 2022 when all four royals attended Queen Elizabeth’s funeral, but Kate and Meghan haven’t made a joint public appearance since. While Harry is set to return to the U.K. between July 7 and 11, Meghan and their children will not join him.
When it comes to the sister-in-laws’ history, separating fact from fiction isn’t easy due to the sheer amount of unsubstantiated rumors floating around. Plus, Netflix’s The Crown only depicted events through 2005, meaning casual royal fans didn’t get a season focused on the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Sussex’s alleged drama (like Meghan’s claim that Kate made her cry before her 2018 wedding).
To understand where the two stand today, it helps to go back to the beginning. Below, revisit all the major moments in Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton’s relationship, from their first meeting to their last public interaction.
Meghan and Kate reportedly first met at Kensington Palace in January 2017.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announce their engagement on November 27, 2017.
Credit: Getty Images
About six months after Harry and Meghan began dating, the prince reportedly introduced her to his brother and sister-in-law. According to the 2020 royal biography Finding Freedom by reporters Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand (via Business Insider), the first meeting happened on January 10, 2017 at Kensington Palace. Meghan brought a gift for Kate: a Smythson notebook. According to Scobie and Durand’s book, excerpted in Hello!, the gesture “helped to break the ice, as did Meghan’s cooing over then 20-month-old Charlotte.”
In November 2017, Meghan and Harry confirmed that they’d had other private meetings with William and Kate in their BBC News engagement interview. “They’re being our neighbors, we managed to get that in, a couple—well, quite a few times now,” Harry explained, adding, “Catherine’s been absolutely amazing, as has William as well. A fantastic support.”
They had several friendly outings before the wedding, but Prince Harry later alleged there was private tension.
Kate Middleton, Prince William, Meghan Markle, and Prince Harry on December 25, 2017.
Credit: Getty Images
Following their engagement announcement, Meghan joined Harry and the rest of the royal family at Sandringham for their annual Christmas celebration. She and Kate were all smiles as they were photographed standing beside their respective partners during the 2017 holiday walkabout.
The new year brought new outings, including a February 2018 appearance at the Royal Foundation Forum by both couples, and a joint showing at the Commonwealth Day service in March. While at the time, they were dubbed the “Fab Four” by the media for their seeming closeness, Harry later alleged that things had been slightly stormy behind the scenes.
Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Kate Middleton, and Prince William on February 28, 2018.
Credit: Getty Images
During their Forum appearance, per Harry’s 2023 memoir Spare (via The New York Times), Meghan asked Kate if she could borrow her lip gloss. The latter “grimaced” but accepted, Harry wrote, noting that the practice of sharing the beauty product was an “American thing.”
Also in Spare, Harry recalled a confrontation between Meghan and Kate over a comment Meghan had made about the Princess of Wales having “baby brain” because she forgot a detail about their forthcoming wedding, per People. It wasn’t the only drama surrounding their 2018 nuptials—more on that below.
Before Meghan and Harry’s May 2018 wedding, drama allegedly brought both women to tears.
Members of the royal family at Prince Harry’s 2018 wedding to Meghan Markle.
Credit: Owen Humphreys/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
Weddings can be stressful for everyone involved, and royal weddings carry even more pressure to be perfect. Understandably, in the months leading up to Meghan’s 2018 ‘I do’s’ with Prince Harry, she had an alleged disagreement with sister-in-law Kate over the bridesmaid dresses. Tabloids ran stories that Meghan had made Kate cry.
In her 2021 interview with Oprah, Meghan said of the alleged incident that “[t]he reverse happened” (via People). “And 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 explained. “But (Kate) owned it, and she apologized and she brought me flowers and a note apologizing.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leave Windsor Castle after getting married on May 19, 2018.
Credit: Getty Images
Another narrative emerged in 2025, as royal biographer Tom Quinn reported in Yes Ma’am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants that both women had cried during the 2018 disagreement. “The truth is that during the discussions about the bridesmaid’s dress, Meghan said a few things she regretted and Kate said a few things she later regretted, but it was all in the heat of the moment,” a staff member told Quinn, as InStyle previously shared in an excerpt.
Meghan later said she was “welcomed” but nothing was “what it looks like” in smiling photos.
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex at Wimbledon on July 14, 2018.
Credit: Karwai Tang/WireImage
Post-wedding and before her move to the U.S., Meghan and Kate had several other joint outings where all seemed friendly. They attended Wimbledon together a few months after the wedding, smiling and whispering to one another in the Royal Box. They’d also attend the tennis tournament together in 2019. Yet Meghan would later say in her Oprah interview (per Newsweek) that their outward appearances were deceiving.
Asked about the Wimbledon photos of her and Kate and whether or not they were as happy as they looked, Meghan said, “I think everyone welcomed me…When you say, ‘Was it what it looked like?’ my understanding and my experience of the past four years is it’s nothing like what it looks like.”
Yet, in the same interview, the As Ever founder called Kate a “good person,” per People. She added that people didn’t have to pit them against one another, as the media so often did. “If you love me, you don’t have to hate her. And if you love her, you don’t have to hate me.”
She and Kate reportedly struggled to move past ‘distant politeness.’
Kate Middleton with Prince Louis and Meghan Markle holding her son Archie on July 10, 2019.
Credit: Samir Hussein/WireImage
In Scobie and Durand’s book (excerpted in Harper’s Bazaar), they allege that Meghan and Kate’s relationship “struggled to move past the distant politeness of when they first met,” citing their July 2019 appearance at the King Power Royal Charity Polo Day as an example of their “cordial but distant rapport.”
At that event, per People, William and Harry faced off in a charity polo match while their wives and children watched on. The royal biographers wrote that “While the doting mothers were photographed next to each other with their children, the two appeared to barely exchange a word.”
A similar interaction occurred during Harry and Meghan’s final engagement as working royals—the 2020 Commonwealth Day Service—where they exchanged a greeting with William and Kate but otherwise didn’t interact, per People.
Prince Harry, Prince William, Meghan Markle, and Kate Middleton on Commonwealth Day in March 2020.
Credit: Getty Images
In the 2022 Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan, Meghan recalled wearing a brighter wardrobe than she previously had during her final week in the U.K. “I never wanted to upstage or ruffle any feathers, so I just tried to blend in,” she said, according to People. “But I wore a lot of color that week. I thought: ‘Well, let’s just look like a rainbow.'”
“It was our opportunity to go out with a bang, to be honest,” Harry added in the documentary.
Harry, William, Meghan, and Kate put on a united front at Queen Elizabeth’s 2022 funeral.
Meghan Markle (L) and Kate Middleton (R) at Queen Elizabeth’s state funeral in 2022.
Credit: Samir Hussein/WireImage
Whatever went on behind the scenes, the four royals appeared united at Queen Elizabeth’s funeral service and committal in September 2022. It remains the last time Meghan and Kate attended the same event, as Meghan did not attend King Charles and Queen Camilla’s coronation the following year.
It’s believed they haven’t spoken since then.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex on April 17, 2026 in Australia.
Credit: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
Kate and Meghan are believed to have not communicated since September 2022. A source told Us Weekly in July 2026 that they’re following their husbands’ leads, as the brothers have also reportedly been low- or no-contact since Harry left the U.K. “They are waiting for William and Harry to decide what’s going to happen,” a source told the outlet of Kate and Meghan, adding, “Kate would love her children to have a relationship with their cousins, and she is interested in seeing the kids as well. But she will respect William’s decision.”
Kate Middleton, Prince William, and their kids at Trooping The Colour 2026.
Credit: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
Earlier this year, a source told People of the family rift, “It remains very emotional. Harry and Meghan are both realistic. They’re not approaching it with the expectation of a quick resolution. It’s about taking small, manageable steps and seeing where things land. This remains very important to Harry, with Meghan supportive.”
Read the original article on InStyle