An Exhaustive Timeline of Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle's Feud Rumors
Yesterday, Kate Middleton herself made it clear that there are no ill feelings between her and Meghan Markle. Kate was asked about Meghan's pregnancy and excitedly responded that she was "absolutely" excited about it and Meghan's baby. "It’s such a special time to have all the kiddies and a cousin for George and Charlotte as well as Louis so it’ll be really special," she said.
But this came after days of rumors the two had "tension" broke out in the press. And it comes exactly one year after people started really comparing the two: Kate, the established royal and Meghan Markle, Prince Harry's new fiancée at time. Here, a recap of all the drama reports between the two duchesses as the news broke.
January 2017
Meghan is not yet Harry's fiancée, but she is very much his girlfriend, and things are getting increasingly serious. Us Weekly reports that Meghan met Kate Middleton and Princess Charlotte on January 10. The gathering was at Kensington Palace and it "went well," a source said. Meghan met Kate's husband Prince William two months before, allegedly.
A year later, Us would give more detail on their meeting. It was the day after Kate's birthday, and Meghan came bearing a gift: a Smythson notebook. “Kate was touched by the little birthday present,” a source close to Meghan told the outlet.
At this point, Meghan and Harry had been dating for a little more than six months.
March 2017
Harry brings Meghan to Norfolk to have a proper lunch with Kate and William and get to know them. It wouldn't be reported until March 2018 by Us Weekly, but a source detailed that then, Meghan was nervous. She had run into Kate here and there while at Kensington Palace to see Harry (during breaks from filming Suits in Toronto), but the two just had small conversation.
This was her first time really getting to know Kate, and "she wasn’t sure how Kate felt about her at first, and she was understandably a little worried," the source said. But "Meghan was welcomed with open arms."
November 2017
Meghan and Harry announce their engagement on the 27th. Kate and William release a statement on it: "We are very excited for Harry and Meghan. It has been wonderful getting to know Meghan and to see how happy she and Harry are together."
In their first official interview as an engaged couple, Meghan gives Kate a special shoutout for all the support that the Duchess of Cambridge has shown her. "Catherine’s been absolutely amazing," Meghan said.
A day after the engagement is announced, Kate personally tells reporters that "William and I are absolutely thrilled. It’s such exciting news. It’s a really happy time for any couple, and we wish them all the best and hope they enjoy this happy moment."
December 2017
The Queen invites Meghan to join the royal family for Christmas-a deviation from her past practice of not inviting royals' significant others until they marry into the family. Us Weekly reports that Kate Middleton and Prince William are hosting Meghan and Prince Harry at Amner Hall, their home in Norfolk near the Queen's Sandringham estate, where she hosts Christmas. “They’ll be William and Kate’s guests and travel back and forth with them,” a source told Us Weekly at the time. A year later, details would come out that Prince Charles pushed William then to extend the invitation. (More on that later!)
Kate and Meghan make their event debut together, at Christmas day church service with the full royal family:
January 2018
The first real report on Kate and Meghan's friendship comes out in E!. The outlet's source makes it clear that Kate is dedicated to welcoming Meghan into the family. "Since very early on she made it clear that should Meghan ever need something, or just want to chat, she shouldn't hesitate to get in touch," a source said. "Kate knows how difficult it is navigating one's way through this very different world. [And] it was important to [Harry] that Meghan and Kate got to know each other, as she has experienced many of the challenges Meghan now faces."
A second source explained that "it's becoming very clear within the family that William, Catherine, Harry and Meghan are the future of the royal family so everything rests on making sure Meghan eases naturally into her role. That's a big priority for everyone. Catherine did it and so they know it's possible for an outsider, without any prior interactions with the establishment, to integrate well. Catherine is very aware that Meghan will need a friend alongside her while she gets used to the way things are done around here."
February 2018
A source tells Us Weekly that Meghan regularly visits Kate, who at that point is two months away from giving birth to Prince Louis. Meghan is said to be helping Kate with her pregnancy. “She shares tips she’s read about healthy eating,” the source said.
March 2018
Kate, still very pregnant with Prince Louis at the time, skips Meghan's bridal shower weekend at Soho Farmhouse. Her absence is noted across media outlets.
Us Weekly reports that Meghan is trying really hard to endear herself to Kate and that she's doing well! Kate likes Meghan, a source close to Kate told the outlet. According to the source, Kate sees Meghan as “such a breath of fresh air. They have already firmly established a wonderful friendship.”
But maybe not completely wonderful. The first report that Meghan and Kate aren't becoming best friends comes out. Vanity Fair's royal correspondent Katie Nicholl, who was then promoting her new Prince Harry biography, told InStyle that Meghan and Kate aren't close friends yet, but they aren't feuding.
"I think they are certainly friendly and they are spending more time with each other," Nicholl said. "You know they’re neighbors in Kensington Palace, and I know that Meghan enjoys going over to see Kate and the children, and she does enjoy that. I’m told there’s always an open invitation for her to be with Kate ever when she wants. I think that any animosity is probably a fabrication in the press. I’ve never heard to suggest that they don’t get along."
But Nicholl did caution that there are differences between them-differences that will be played up in feud reports later. "I do hear plenty to suggest that they’re quite different people and that have quite different interests and that Meghan is quite independent and very confident and very keen to I think establish her own network of friends over here in London," Nicholl said. "So that’s certainly not to say she’s snubbed Kate in any way. I think they do spend time together. But I think Meghan’s keen not to rely too much on Kate and to have her own friends as well."
The next week, Entertainment Tonight gives more detail on Meghan and Kate's hangout sessions. "Meghan has also been leaning on Kate for advice as she joins the Royal family," a source told the outlet.
That source makes it clear that Kate has really been helping Meghan adjust to royal life. "Meghan has also turned to Kate to keep her company as she has less flexibility roaming around freely since joining life as a future member of the Royal Family," the source said. "Meghan is adapting to a life without her social media accounts, under the constant scrutiny of the paparazzi, with help from Kate."
April 2018
Katie Nicholl reports for Vanity Fair that Meghan and Kate have been coordinating their outfits together and that there is NO drama with Meghan also wearing Kate's favorite designers. “Kate’s not the sort of person to get offended if someone wears something she likes or one of her favorite designers,” a source told Nicholl. “Meghan asked her advice for formal wear and Kate told her where to go. They were also consulting each other on their clothes so that they complemented each other on engagements and didn’t clash.”
July 2018
A report comes out that Harry sought Kate's approval before proposing to Meghan. Katie Nicholl told Grazia that "Harry and Kate are very close, she’s been like a mentor to him and he wanted her seal of approval. Kate is different to Meghan in many ways, but she has made great strides to help Meghan settle in." (Kate used to set Harry up on blind dates and is close with him.)
Nicholl also reports for Vanity Fair that Meghan has been leaning on Kate amidst the Thomas Markle drama that played out in the press with his frequent interviews.
“Kate’s well aware of what Meghan is going through," a source told Nicholl. "Her family has been dragged through the tabloids and she knows it’s not nice. She’s made a big effort to be kind to Meghan and look out for her.”
A second royal source explained to Nicholl that Kate has really been making an effort. “They speak on the phone and Kate makes a point of inviting Meghan over,” the source said. “I’d say they try to see each other once a week, sometimes with Harry, sometimes Meghan goes on her own." Kate has limits, but she is trying, the source said. "Kate’s really busy juggling three kids; she has a lot on her plate and she has her own friendship group, but she has made an effort with Meghan. She’s been very sympathetic to what’s been going on with Meghan and her dad.”
October 2018
August and September are quiet on the gossip front, likely because the royal family spent August off (it's their vacation month). Kate prepares to return to work after her maternity leave, which she does on October 2.
Then the first bombshell comes at the end of the month: The Sunday Times reports that William and Harry are going to split professionally in the future and have separate offices, instead of just sharing Kensington Palace's. It's suggested that Meghan is the catalyst for this (but whoever Harry's wife was would have been).
“Now they have their own families, they no longer rely on each other as before," a source close to the brothers told The Sunday Times. “There is a gulf in the style and approach to the type of work that William and Kate will increasingly do as future head of state and consort, and Harry and Meghan, who have more of a blank canvas with their roles.”
November 2018
The vault on Meghan/Kate drama stories is opened in November. Meghan and Harry announce that they're moving from Kensington Palace to Frogmore Cottage, giving up the opportunity to be Kate and William's neighbor in Kensington Palace's Apartment 1A. Multiple royal reporters say that sources told them tension between the two couples is part of the reason this happened. Here, a breakdown of the stories:
Meghan and Kate did not become close friends. There was no blowout, but there's "tension."
Richard Palmer, the Express's royal correspondent, wrote on Twitter that the reason for the move is just "Harry and Meghan spreading their wings. No big fallout but Kate and Meghan not close."
Rebecca English, the Daily Mail's royal correspondent, calls the two duchesses "simply very different people, although sources insist there has been no dramatic falling out." Kate can handle their differences, too, a source told English. "While there are some tensions behind the scenes, Kate is pretty unflappable and nothing has become bad enough to make Harry and Meghan want to move out. People are genuinely pleased to see them so happy."
Camilla Tominey of The Daily Telegraph, meanwhile, was told by one source that “Meghan is extrovert, whereas Kate is quite shy.”
Meghan and Kate had some pretty bad wedding drama that was kept private.
Tominey was told by two sources that “Kate was left in tears following a bridesmaids dress fitting for Princess Charlotte” before Meghan's royal wedding in May. “Kate had only just given birth to Prince Louis and was feeling quite emotional,” a source explained. Specifics beyond that weren't given. But on the wedding day itself, Kate was said to be in "great form" by a wedding guest that People spoke with.
Harry got mad at William for not doing enough to welcome Meghan into the family last Christmas.
A mutual friend of William and Harry's told Nicholl for Vanity Fair that in December 2017, “Harry felt William wasn’t rolling out the red carpet for Meghan and told him so," the source said. "They had a bit of a fall out, which was only resolved when [their dad Prince] Charles stepped in and asked William to make an effort. That’s when the Cambridges invited the Sussexes to spend Christmas with them.”
People did a bit of damage control with a new report today. “They really loved Christmas and all had a wonderful time,” a source told the outlet. “I think the two women got on-they are definitely not best friends, but it was a really special time for them all to spend together.”
All that led to Kate publicly making it clear that she and Meghan are fine by gushing about Meghan and her future baby yesterday. Outlets have generally accepted that as a sign any feud rumors have been defused, at least for now.
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