Prince Harry’s 2023 memoir Spare shed new light on the growing tensions within the royal family, particularly during his wedding to Meghan Markle. One incident Harry recalled from his big day involved Prince William and Kate Middleton’s discomfort with the seating arrangement at the reception. In his memoir, Harry explained that while he and Meghan followed the American tradition of seating couples together, William and Kate preferred the traditional British style, where spouses are seated apart.
Harry recounted a conversation at Kensington Palace in June 2018, shortly after the wedding, where he and Meghan expressed their displeasure at William and Kate’s decision to switch their place cards. “We weren’t too pleased when Willy and Kate changed seats at our wedding,” he wrote. “Their table was the only one where spouses were apart.” When confronted, William and Kate insisted it wasn’t their doing, claiming someone else had made the changes. They also brought up Harry and Meghan allegedly doing the same at Pippa Middleton’s wedding, a claim Harry denied.
Prince Harry and his best man The Duke of Cambridge arrive at St George's Chapel #RoyalWedding pic.twitter.com/FhWlR1ZPBX
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) May 19, 2018
This incident is just one example of the growing rift between the two couples, once dubbed the ‘Fab Four.’ In Spare, Harry also noted that tensions began brewing before his wedding, with rumors circulating that William believed Harry was rushing into his marriage with Meghan. This tension, combined with Meghan’s struggles to adjust to royal life, reportedly caused a breakdown in their relationships.
