Meghan Markle has shockingly claimed that her sister-in-law Kate Middleton made her cry in the days leading up to her May 2018 wedding to Prince Harry. The Duchess of Sussex dropped the bombshell revelation during her heart-to-heart with Oprah Winfrey in the CBS primetime special on March 7.
Speaking to the talk show host about the tabloid stories, including the one that she allegedly made the Duchess of Cambridge cry, Meghan said that “the narrative with Kate, which didn’t happen, was really, really difficult and something I think that’s when everything changed, really.”
She went on to describe further what happened. “No [I did not make Kate cry]… The reverse happened. 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, but she owned it and she apologized and she brought me flowers and a note apologizing, which is what I would do if I knew that I hurt someone… just take accountability for it,” she said.
“What was shocking was…six or seven months after our wedding that the reverse of that would be out in the world… I would’ve never wanted that to come out about her, ever, even though it had happened. I protected that from ever being out in the world.”
Meghan didn’t reveal exactly what the Duchess said that made her cry she did admit that the issue was about the flower girl dresses, which had been reported in the media. “A few days before the wedding she was upset about something – the issue was correct about flower girl dresses – and it made me cry and it really hurt my feelings.” HollywoodLife has reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment on Meghan’s allegations.
The revelation was shared during an emotional heart-to-heart with talk show queen, Oprah with Meghan and Harry: A Primetime Special. The Sussexes’ interview with Oprah has been creating headlines for weeks, ever since CBS announced the two-hour primetime special on Feb. 15. Up to seven days before the show aired the network shared previews of what the Duke and Duchess said.
The first trailer appeared to set the tone for the discussion with Prince Harry referring to his late mother Princess Diana who tragically died in a Paris car crash in August 1997. The 36-year-old mom-of-two was being chased by paparazzi and driven by a drunk chauffeur at the time of the fatal accident.
Harry was just 12 at the time of his mother’s death. The princess famously had a difficult relationship with the press and the paparazzi, reportedly courting them at times but feeling hounded by prying camera lenses and harshly criticized by unflattering headlines.
“For me, I’m just really relieved and happy to be sitting here talking to you with my wife by my side,” Prince Harry told Oprah in the first snippet of the interview to be released, “because I can’t begin to imagine what it must have been like for her going through this process by herself all those years ago. Because it’s been unbelievably tough for the two of us, but at least we have each other.”
In another clip, Meghan – who is pregnant with the couple’s second child – laid down the gauntlet by accusing the royals of “perpetuating falsehoods” about them. Asked how she feels “about the Palace hearing” her speak her “truth,” she replied, “I don’t know how they could expect that, after all of this time, we would still just be silent if there is an active role that The Firm is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us.”
“The Firm” is the family’s nickname for the institution. It was reportedly first coined by her grandfather-in-law the Duke of Edinburgh. “Prince Philip calls it ‘The Firm,’ and all the royal executives and their powerful associates are supposed to make every effort to avoid even a hint of scandal that could diminish the reputation of the family business,” Penny Junor wrote in her book, The Firm: The Troubled Life of the House of Windsor.
But this family rift being laid bare in a primetime U.S. TV special has caused embarrassment for the Sussexes and the Palace, with shots being fired through the press and reps on both sides of the pond. Amid the release of a steady stream of previews, The Times of London reported that the Duchess of Sussex “faced a bullying complaint” by one of her former aides at Kensington Palace in October 2018. “The complaint claimed that she drove two personal assistants out of the household and was undermining the confidence of a third staff member,” according to the newspaper’s March 2 report. Buckingham Palace has since launched an investigation into the matter.
In response to allegations of bullying made by palace aides to The Times, a spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex says: https://t.co/tycXEGInll pic.twitter.com/cEuPHQrpXl
— Omid Scobie (@scobie) March 2, 2021
But a rep for the Sussexes denied the allegations, releasing a statement saying, in part, “The Duchess is saddened by this latest attack on her character, particularly as someone who has been the target of bullying herself and is deeply committed to supporting those who have experienced pain and trauma.”
Oprah with Meghan and Harry: A Primetime Special is set to air in the U.K. on ITV on Monday March 8, a day after its U.S. premiere.