Meghan Markle believed that Prince Harry “deserved more materially” after her first visit to the Prince and Princess of Wales’s apartment on the grounds of Kensington Palace, a royal biographer has claimed.
At the time, the Duke of Sussex, now 39, was residing in Nottingham Cottage, one of the estate’s smallest properties, which has two bedrooms and a single bathroom. In contrast, Prince William and Kate were living in the spacious 20-room Apartment 1A, their London home since their 2011 marriage.
Rob Jobson, in his new biography of the Princess of Wales, wrote: “It is understood that when Meghan and Harry went to have drinks at William and Catherine’s apartment while they were still living at Nottingham Cottage, Meghan was ‘taken aback’ by the disparity between the brothers’ living conditions.
“‘I am not saying Meghan was jealous, but she was really surprised by how lavishly Harry’s brother was living compared to where they were living,’ a close source said. ‘It was perhaps the beginning of all the tensions between the two couples.'”
The biography further delves into the differences between the heir and the spare, claiming that Prince William “banned” Meghan Markle from wearing any of Princess Diana’s jewelry to her 2018 wedding, despite the then-Kate Middleton being allowed to do so seven years earlier.
“Meghan understood that William was above her husband in the royal pecking order as the heir to the throne, but she thought Harry, also a royal prince, deserved more materially,” Jobson claimed. “She was piqued by the disparity.”
Prince Harry reflected on his “embarrassment” when he first brought Meghan, now 42, home to Nottingham Cottage. In his 2023 memoir Spare, he wrote: “I was excited to welcome Meg to my home, but also embarrassed. Nott Cott was no palace.”
The couple later moved to the five-bedroom Frogmore Cottage, which they permanently vacated last summer after stepping down as working royals in 2020. Reports indicate that the property, which cost over £2 million to renovate for the couple, remains empty.
The relationship between the two brothers and their respective spouses appears to have completely deteriorated since Harry and Meghan stepped down as working royals in 2020. The last known interaction between the couples remains unclear, with Meghan not attending any events in the UK since the late Queen’s funeral in September 2022.
In a recent ITV documentary Tabloids on Trial, Harry expressed his reluctance to bring his wife to the UK, fearing an “acid or knife” attack inspired by negative tabloid stories. Jobson’s biography also touches on this, claiming: “Catherine did seem to be unwittingly set up in competition with Meghan by the press, although she did not invite or encourage such polarizing portrayals.”
