“I felt like she was my sister”: what Harry reveals about his breakup with Kate Middleton

The feud between the world’s two most-followed princely couples continues to make headlines. Kate Middleton is said to have distanced herself from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for a specific reason, revealed in a recent biography – and that reason touches directly on fundamental values.

A biography that lifts the veil on the royal divide

According to journalist Russell Myers, author of the biography William and Catherine: The Intimate Inside Storyit was Harry and Meghan’s attitude towards the palace staff that deeply shocked the Princess of Wales. This behavior, far removed from that which she and Prince William adopt with their own employees, would have been the real breaking point between the two couples.

So, it wasn’t a public row or a sensational declaration that sealed the distance between the Welsh and the Sussexes. It was a question of values, discreet but decisive.

What’s more, the book points out that this break-up is recent. The Princess of Wales had initially downplayed the tensions, attributing them to the complex dynamic between a principal heir and his younger sibling.

Buckingham Palace investigation at heart of debate

In 2021, Buckingham Palace opened an investigation into “tyrannical behavior” after several of Harry and Meghan’s employees voiced complaints about the Duchess’s attitude towards her staff. Meghan Markle has always denied these accusations and denounced a smear campaign against her.

As a result, the findings of this investigation were never made public. This opacity has only fuelled speculation about the royal feud.

“I felt like she was more of a sister than a sister-in-law, the sister I never had and always longed for.”

From the Fab Four to a gradual break-up

But it wasn’t always so. In his autobiography Spare, Prince Harry evoked Kate with great affection. The two couples once formed the “Fab Four”, much loved by the British public.

But relations gradually deteriorated. At Meghan and Harry’s wedding, an argument broke out between Meghan Markle and her future sister-in-law over Princess Charlotte’s dress. This episode remains one of the first visible signs of tension between the two women.

Since then, the four members of the group have seen less and less of each other. Their last known joint appearance was at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in 2021.

• Russell Myers’ biography reveals that behavior towards staff was the trigger for the breakup.
• In 2021, Buckingham Palace opened an investigation into “tyrannical behavior” targeting the Sussexes.
• The conclusions of this investigation have never been made public.
• The couple last appeared together at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in 2021.
• Prince Harry once described Kate as a sister, in his autobiography Spare.

Kate Middleton had first sought to understand

The Princess of Wales didn’t jump to conclusions. She initially believed that the differences between William and Harry stemmed from the dynamic between the heir apparent and his younger sibling – tensions she described, according to Russell Myers, as “immature trifles”.

However, it was the way the staff were treated that changed her mind about the situation. The way in which she and Prince William manage their own team is, according to the book, radically different from that described in the Sussex employees’ complaints.

Thousands of miles and no more regular contact

The two couples now live thousands of miles apart. Harry and Meghan have moved to the USA after leaving royal duties, while William and the Princess of Wales remain at the heart of the British establishment.

According to available information, the two families were no longer in regular contact. Geographical distance has thus confirmed an already well-established human distance.

Kate Middleton, future queen, seems to have drawn a clear line. Not out of open hostility, but out of attachment to principles which, according to Russell Myers, are at the very foundation of her vision of the royal role.

• Kate Middleton