Prince William and Prince Harry got into it a few years ago over the latter brother’s relationship with Meghan Markle, according to American journalist Christopher Andersen‘s newly published book, Brothers and Wives: Inside the Private Lives of William, Kate, Harry and Meghan. Christopher, 72, writes that, according to a palace insider, the royal siblings were having drinks at Kensington Palace in September 2017, when William, 39, expressed concern over how quickly Harry, 37, was moving along with Meghan, 40. “Kate [Middleton] and I think Meghan seems like a lovely girl, but why rush things? Does she really know what she’s getting into? Take whatever time you need to really get to know this girl,” William allegedly told Harry, per the book.
William’s comments did not go over well with his little brother, Christopher’s book claims. Harry allegedly didn’t appreciate William using the term “this girl” to describe Meghan, despite Harry apparently saying that about the former Suits actress before, including when they did their first official interview as a couple with BBC. Harry, as Christopher describes, “resented William’s presumptuous attitude” during their conversation about Meghan, and he quickly lashed out at his big brother.
“Who the hell do you think you are, brother?” Harry said to William while “rising to his feet,” according to the book. He allegedly added, “I’m marrying Meghan, and nothing and no one is standing in our way,” before walking away from his brother and out the door. William, meanwhile, “discarded the idea of asking” their dad Prince Charles, 73, to weigh in on the Meghan-related drama, as the Prince of Wales (and heir of the monarch) “had no stomach for laying down the law where Harry was concerned,” the book claims. Roughly two months after this alleged fight occurred, Harry and Meghan announced their engagement to the world. Since then, the now-married couple has moved to the United States with their two children, after stepping away from royal life at the beginning of 2020.
Drama between Harry and William has been circulating in the press for years now, and it really blew up when Harry and Meghan sat down with Oprah Winfrey for a tell-all interview in March 2021. The Duke of Sussex confirmed that his relationship with William, as well as Charles, had been tense since he and Meghan made the decision to leave the U.K. Harry also said that his elder brother was unable to “leave that system,” meaning the British throne. As for Meghan, she called out the royal family as a whole for allegedly not offering her any assistance after she confessed to having suicidal thoughts.
Since that bombshell interview, Harry has spent very little time with his family back in the U.K. He saw them for Prince Philip’s funeral in April, and then for the unveiling of a statue of his mother, Princess Diana, in July. However, he still has not publicly revealed where his relationship with his brother and father stand in the months since the Oprah interview aired.