How Kate, not the Queen, coined the ultimate royal slapdown after Meghan's racism claims, reveals ROBERT JOBSON in his definitive new biography of the Princess of Wales

First, the disgraced Duke of York was spotted – to the surprise of many – walking with other members of the Royal Family to their traditional Christmas service in 2022. 

Then, in February this year, he and his ex-wife were photographed leading royal mourners as they walked to the memorial service for King Constantine of Greece. What did it all mean? And why had Fergie – long banished from other such occasions – suddenly been welcomed so publicly back into the royal fold?

Remarkably, a senior figure in the royal household suggests that by extending a hand to the Yorks, King Charles was trying to send his elder son William a very pointed message. Not about Andrew – but about Prince Harry.

'Perhaps the King is subliminally trying to show William that forgiving one's brother and giving him a second chance is a strength, not a weakness,' said the source. 'Prince William disagrees – and as for his own brother, as far as he is concerned there is no way back.'

In other words, the feud between Harry and William looks set to continue, possibly for the rest of their lives…

Catherine and newly married Meghan at Wimbledon together in 2018

It is worth recalling just how close the warring princes once were, and how wholeheartedly and warmly Harry had welcomed Catherine Middleton – whom he regarded as 'the sister I've never had and always wanted' – into the Royal Family.

On her wedding day, Harry – serving as his brother's best man – said in his speech at the private reception that their mother would have been 'proud' to witness the marriage of her son to the 'beautiful' Catherine.

It was only on the advice of his then girlfriend Chelsy Davy that he dropped a reference to the bride's 'killer legs' – though he later disputed this account in his memoir, Spare.

As for William, he called him the 'perfect brother'.

And for the next few years, Harry remained one of the most important people in William's life. He was at the christening for Prince George, while the Duke of York, the Earl of Wessex and Princess Anne were left off the restricted guest list.

He was one of the first to receive a snap of the new-born Princess Charlotte before Catherine had even left hospital.

In 2016, Harry and the Cambridges launched the ambitious Heads Together campaign through their Royal Foundation. Catherine had suggested the idea to her husband as a campaign to draw attention to mental health.

They dovetailed well: William focused on the reluctance of young men to discuss their mental wellbeing, Harry on how it affected the lives of service personnel and veterans, and Catherine on improving the lives of young children.

Then, in 2017, came Meghan Markle. Even before Harry introduced William and Catherine to the American divorcee, they seemed impressed, as the couple were big fans of the Netflix legal drama Suits, in which she had a starring role. Harry said their 'mouths dropped' when he told them he was dating Meghan, and his brother turned to him saying, admiringly: 'F*** off?'

Harry and Meghan tell their truth to Oprah Winfrey in 2021

When Clarence House announced the engagement between Harry and Meghan in November 2017, Catherine told the press: 'William and I are thrilled. It's such exciting news. It's a happy time for any couple, and we wish them all the best and hope they enjoy this happy moment.'

Privately, however, William was concerned that his brother was rushing towards marriage without knowing Meghan all that well. He suggested to Harry that he cool the romance and give the actress more time to adjust to royal life.

Harry felt affronted, and his relationship with William quickly began to deteriorate. Meanwhile, Meghan had moved into cosy Nottingham Cottage on the Kensington Palace estate with Harry. When they went to have drinks at William and Catherine's palatial apartment, she was apparently 'taken aback' at the disparity between the brothers.

'I am not saying Meghan was jealous, but she was surprised how lavishly Harry's brother was living compared to where they were living,' said a close source. 'It was perhaps the beginning of all the tensions between the couples.'

Meghan understood, of course, that William was in the direct line of succession, but she felt that Harry, as a royal prince, deserved more than he had.

On Christmas Day 2017, the two young couples were pictured arm-in-arm as they walked to St Mary Magdalene Church at Sandringham. They became known as the 'Fab Four' – but even then, they were anything but united.

At the outset, Charles had made a concerted effort to form a relationship with Harry's fiancee. 'She is so intelligent and so nice,' he said. 'She makes Harry happy. We could not like her more.'

Harry, however, later claimed that his father told him there was 'not enough money to go around' for Meghan, because he was already having to pay for William and Catherine. 

Harry was furious – feeling that he and Meghan were entitled to lavish handouts from 'Pa' in return for agreeing to serve the crown. In fact, according to close sources, Charles ended up giving Harry a 'substantial sum' and did not cut him off financially.

At first, public reaction to Meghan was overwhelmingly positive, with 'the new kids on the block' hogging most of the headlines – to the point that William and Catherine may have unconsciously raised their game. There were whispers of pettiness, even jealousy.

William, who expected to be treated with deference due to his place in the succession, was put out when Meghan and Harry slotted in a morning engagement in Cardiff in January 2018 that clashed with one of his. Competitive by nature, even when it comes to media coverage, he chose that same afternoon to debut a new and dramatic buzz-cut during a visit to a London hospital.

Some members of Charles's household were amused that William had felt so affronted. After all, the prince rarely showed much deference to his father.

At the Royal Foundation Forum in February 2018, there were clear tensions among the Fab Four as they sat before a backdrop with the message 'Making a Difference Together'. William spoke first. Afterwards, the host asked if they ever had family disagreements. 'Oh, yes,' William said.

'[They are] healthy disagreements,' Harry added quickly. When asked for more detail, he added: 'I can't remember, they come so thick and fast.' 

When Meghan's turn came to speak, she name-checked the #MeToo and Time's Up movements and talked of empowering women to use their voices. Harry, clearly smitten, seemed in awe of her public-speaking skills. William and Catherine, however, shuffled in their seats and looked decidedly uncomfortable.

Cracks between the two couples continued to widen – with the help of petty slights, whether imagined or otherwise.

Kate, William, Harry and Meghan arrive on the long walk at Windsor Castle to view flowers and tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022

There was the time Meghan asked to borrow some lip gloss, and Harry felt Catherine had handed hers over reluctantly. According to him, Catherine 'grimaced' after Meghan had squeezed some onto a finger and applied it to her lips.

Soon, pre-wedding spats were in full swing.

The Duchess of Cambridge was affronted when Meghan suggested Catherine had forgotten a small detail about the wedding plans because she had 'baby brain', having just given birth to Louis.

Then it emerged that, four days before the wedding, Meghan had apparently made Catherine cry during a fitting for Princess Charlotte's bridesmaid's dress. This version was later flatly contradicted by the new Duchess of Sussex, who claimed Catherine had made her cry – and that the confrontation 'really hurt my feelings' and had been a 'turning point' in their relationship.

Cynics pointed out that turning on the tears was not difficult for Meghan. She'd once boasted about her ability to do so as an actress, saying: 'Oh, I can do that so well.'

By the time William was confirmed as best man, the relationship had worsened.

I have been told that, still concerned about the match, he'd sought assurances from the Queen that Harry's bride would not be wearing any of Princess Diana's jewellery, even though his own wife was allowed to wear it.

Despite sharp digs and thin skins on both sides, the wedding at Windsor in May 2018 was a spectacular success. In public, the Royal Family were all smiles, though privately they were at daggers drawn.

After Meghan and Harry returned from their honeymoon in Africa, the two couples at least tried to patch things up over tea at Kensington Palace. According to Harry, however, Catherine confronted Meghan about the 'baby brain' comment, saying: 'You talked about my hormones. We are not close enough for you to talk about my hormones.'

Apparently startled, Meghan said it was the way she spoke to her girlfriends. William then reportedly pointed at the Duchess of Sussex and said she was 'rude'. This was too much for Meghan, who bit back: 'Take your finger out of my face.'

Meghan continued to be popular until Archie was born in May 2019. Afterwards, negative articles began outstripping the positive – particularly after she and Harry decided to keep details of their baby's birth and baptism private. Many felt that the couple wanted to have their cake and eat it too.

Inevitably, details leaked of the royal brothers' troubled relationship, and the fact that Catherine and Meghan had also fallen out. The Palace, worried about the negative impact of the story, arranged for the two women to watch the tennis together at Wimbledon.

Later, Oprah Winfrey would ask Meghan: 'Did you feel welcomed by everyone? It seemed like you and Kate at the Wimbledon game, where you were going to watch a friend play tennis... was it what it looked like?' Meghan replied: 'My understanding and my experience for the past four years is that it's nothing like what it looks like.'

The King, who dislikes confrontation, consciously stayed out of the quarrels between his sons, hoping their mutual hostility would ease over time. Instead, relations grew steadily worse.

In an interview with Tom Bradby for ITV, Harry confirmed he and his brother were on 'different paths' and that there were problems in their relationship.

William was furious at what he saw as a public betrayal. Meghan heaped fuel on the flames by saying she'd been struggling mentally and was 'not really OK'.

Catherine's instinct has always been to resolve problems by talking them through, but by now her patience had been tested to the limit. Harry and Meghan, it emerged, had also come to the end of the line and wanted out. 

In January 2019, news broke that they wanted to 'carve out a progressive new role' for themselves within the monarchy, earning money for themselves and splitting their time between North America and the UK. They wrongly assumed the late Queen would back them.

Even Harry, who was expecting some kick-back from his family, was surprised at how unforgiving they were. It was easy for him to blame his father and brother, but what happened was the Queen's decision, albeit strongly supported by Charles and William.

She knew instinctively that for the sake of the monarchy there couldn't be any ambiguity over its role and function or financial structure. As far as she was concerned, you were either working for the Firm fully or not – and in her role as monarch, she viewed Harry as a maverick who'd let her down.

Meghan told Oprah Winfrey that members of the Royal Family had expressed 'concerns and conversations about how dark [her baby's] skin might be'

She didn't object to the couple's decision to leave, but she was adamant that they be stripped of their patronages and banned from using their HRH titles. Close sources say that Harry was shocked and hurt. Yes, it was his decision to go, but he felt as if he'd been banished. He found it hard to believe the entire Royal Family had almost in unison turned their backs on him, and his brother and father became the chief focus of his anger.

In 2020, the Sussexes flew to Canada before later making the inevitable move to California, Meghan's home state. In the wake of their departure, Catherine significantly ramped up her official engagements.

A year later, Meghan, supported by Harry, was telling Oprah Winfrey that members of the Royal Family had expressed 'concerns and conversations about how dark [her baby's] skin might be'.

The Palace was forced to issue an unprecedented statement on behalf of the Queen, which said: 'The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.'

The original draft of the statement had been much milder, but both William and Catherine had been keen to toughen it up. It was the then Duchess of Cambridge herself who came up with the powerful phrase 'recollections may vary'. Her husband also challenged the allegations, telling reporters: 'We are very much not a racist family.'

As far as William was concerned, Harry and Meghan's behaviour was unforgivable, and they could no longer be trusted. Catherine herself was said to be deeply wounded by various allegations in the interview, as well as by the Sussexes' later so-called revelations in their Netflix series and in Harry's book Spare.

In December 2023, Omid Scobie's second book, Endgame, caused a sensation when, in a Dutch edition, he named the two royals whom Meghan had allegedly accused of racism as Charles and Catherine.

Both kept a dignified silence. The idea that either of them were racist was preposterous. At worst, if the comments had been made at all, they'd been misinterpreted or taken out of context.

It's also notable that Harry later insisted he didn't believe the Royal Family was racist and claimed that neither he nor his wife had ever said they were. Instead, he predictably blamed the media.

The Queen had more important concerns than her petulant grandson and his wife attacking the Royal Family. In 2021 her beloved Philip had been admitted to hospital as a precautionary measure, and died aged 99, just 23 days after being discharged.

At his funeral, Catherine – exuding poise, calm and regal impregnability – took her place as one of the most senior Royal Family members, supporting the frail and grieving Queen and comforting Prince Charles.

She also deployed her diplomatic skills to try to deal with the bad blood between her husband and his brother as they both mourned their grandfather in silence.

Harry had walked quickly towards Catherine as he left the chapel behind her husband and other family members. Subtly, she increased her pace so they could catch up with William, a few steps ahead. 

She then fell back, to allow the brothers to walk next to each other and at least exchange a few words. It gave the public the impression that they were putting on a united front for their late grandfather, a welcome mini-truce in their feud.

The following year, Meghan and Harry flew in for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee and attended the National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral. Inside, Catherine looked visibly upset at being in the same space as the couple. William, who was clearly uncomfortable too, gave his wife a consoling look.

The Sussexes were again in the UK later in 2022, when Charles called his younger son from Balmoral to tell him the Queen was dying. Harry could easily have joined William, Andrew and the Wessexes on an RAF flight from Northolt but after Charles told him Meghan couldn't accompany him he chose instead to take a private jet.

As a future queen, Catherine might have expected to join her husband at Balmoral, but she elected to stay with their children. Her decision may have been influenced by Harry's petulance.

Amid all the grief at the Queen's death, William, now Prince of Wales and heir to the throne, took decisive action. Picking up the phone to Harry, he suggested that they and their wives put on a show of unity for the sake of their late grandmother by viewing the floral tributes at Windsor together. Harry accepted. 

The resulting images suggested they'd all slipped back into their Fab Four routine, but Catherine later admitted to a member of the Royal Family that such was the extent of ill-feeling between the couples, the walkabout had been the hardest thing she'd ever had to do.

If the relationship between them was then at an all-time low, it had further to fall – with the release of Harry and Meghan's Netflix series and his memoir, Spare.

This year, she has had far more important things to think about than the brooding couple in Montecito. At 42, despite an exceptional level of fitness – such that Mike Tindall, husband of William's cousin Zara, calls her 'The Engine' – Catherine was diagnosed with cancer, at around the same time that King Charles also received a cancer diagnosis.

The King was the first to go public with the news, though Queen Camilla had initially argued against disclosing his condition. His cancer had been discovered after he went into hospital with symptoms of an enlarged prostate – and he felt that by talking openly, it might encourage men experiencing similar symptoms to seek medical attention.

He was right: immediately after his announcement, there was a significant increase in searches related to an enlarged prostate on the NHS website.

Just before going public about his cancer diagnosis, the King had contacted Harry – who, without consulting his father, immediately took it upon himself to fly to his side. It was an impetuous decision that caused some disquiet, given that their relationship had developed deep cracks over the last two years – particularly from unfounded accusations of racism. The King was also unhappy with what amounted to a fait accompli just at a time in his treatment when he needed peace and quiet.

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The official narrative was that Charles was 'touched' by Harry's gesture. The truth is that his unscheduled visit disrupted the King's plans to recuperate with his wife at Sandringham. Instead, they idled at Clarence House in London, awaiting Harry's arrival. Their meeting then lasted only 30 minutes – clearly not long enough to repair shattered bridges.

The Duke of Sussex, ensconced in his own family bubble, had perhaps not yet grasped that his public betrayal of his father and the wider family had left far deeper wounds than he'd anticipated.

Meanwhile, Catherine unexpectedly became the centre of a media storm. Her absence from the public stage had already fuelled frenzied internet conspiracy theories by the time she released a family photo to mark Mother's Day, which she'd digitally edited.

The doctored photo sparked a furore, leaving the fragile princess saddened and deeply embarrassed. Naively, she'd edited the best shot taken by William at least three times to make the family look better – yet people had immediately noticed something was wrong with Princess Charlotte's sleeve.

Even the White House press secretary mocked the royal couple, giving the U.S. press corps assurances that no images by them would ever be doctored. Despite the clamour, the Palace refused to release the original photo, which only sparked further fevered speculation. Close sources say that it was Prince William who refused to budge.

His PR team suggested he and Catherine issue a joint statement to help deflect the blame from her. The initial prepared statement used the words 'we' and 'our', but the prince decided not to release it. After all, it was his wife who'd manipulated the snap and nothing to do with him, and if the Press found out that he was covering for the princess, the speculation would only grow. When the statement was finally issued, it came from Catherine alone.

Then came her deeply shocking video announcement that she had cancer and had started preventative chemotherapy. Two pillars of the monarchy were now facing serious medical challenges that would impede their royal duties, in Catherine's case for months.

The Sussex-shaped void in the Royal Family has never loomed so large, yet there is no question of them stepping in to help. William remains adamant about that.

As for King Charles, he's let it be known that he'll never shut the door on his second child, though there seems little chance of a meaningful reconciliation for now.

And Harry and Meghan? Their biggest paydays – for the book and the Netflix series – seem to be behind them. Now that the public have wearied of their constant complaints, they're trying to find an income stream (jam, anyone?) that doesn't involve dishing dirt on the Royal Family.

It's possible, of course, that they may never again be able to conjure up the many millions required to fuel their chosen lifestyle.

The 'Harry problem', as it's known among Palace staff, continues to plague the King.

'What worries His Majesty, and his top team,' says a Palace official, 'is what is going to happen when all the money runs out.'

Adapted from Catherine, The Princess Of Wales: The Biography by Robert Jobson, to be published by John Blake on 1 August at £22. © Robert Jobson 2024. To order a copy for £19.80 (offer valid to 10/08/24; UK P&P free on orders over £25) go to www.mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937.