While the bad blood between Prince William and Prince Harry might generate more tabloid headlines, the feud between Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle appears to be just as intense, if not more so.
The sisters-in-law by marriage made an effort in the early days of Meghan’s courtship with Harry, but before long, the tensions between them became insurmountable.
Insiders say the final straw occurred when Kate and Meghan argued about how Princess Charlotte would dress for Meghan’s wedding.
It may seem silly, but in a way, the spat was representative of everything that divided the two women from the start:
Kate, always the traditionalist, wanted her daughter to wear stockings while serving as flower girl, in accordance with royal tradition.
Meghan — who bristled against the royals’ stodgier customs from the start — felt that Charlotte needn’t wear stocking if she didn’t want to.
In the aftermath of the fight, Kate accused Meghan of yelling at her staff, an allegation that haunts the Duchess of Sussex to this day.
(Meghan has a very different take on what happened that day, but more on that later.)
Flash forward three years, and the duchesses are living on separate continents and no longer on speaking terms.
At first, the arrangement seemed to benefit all parties involved, but now, it seems that Kate would like to begin the process of mending fences.
According to a new report from Us Weekly, in the weeks since Meghan gave birth to her second child, Kate has been reaching out more than ever in the hope that the two of them can finally move on from their tumultuous past.
“Kate has been reaching out to Meghan a lot more since [Lilibet] was born, she’s sending [notes and] gifts and trying to build up a relationship,” a source close to the situation tells Us Weekly.
“The firm has been instructing staffers to reach out more to Harry and Meghan to get them to soften a bit.”
Another insider tells the outlet that Meghan and Kate never communicated on a regular basis, but the feud between their husbands was what caused them to cut off contact completely.
“They were never that close, but the reason they’re not speaking is because of the rift between Prince Harry and Prince William,” the source told Us.
“Harry and William have communicated sparingly over the last year, but none of their communications have been friendly in quite some time," the insider adds.
"There is real animosity that the brothers have toward one another, and that has spilled over to Meghan and Kate’s relationship, making it very hard for them to be friends or even friendly.”
As for the flower girl argument that allegedly had Kate and Meg at each other’s throats, Meghan shared her own account during her interview with Oprah Winfrey back in March.
“The reverse happened," Meghan said in response to accusations that she made Kate cry.
"A few days before the wedding she was upset about flower girl dresses and it made me cry. It really hurt my feelings. It was a really hard week of the wedding," she added.
"And she was upset about something, but she owned it, and she apologized. And she brought me flowers and a note, apologizing.”
We’re happy to hear that Kate and Meghan are working on their relationship — but clearly these two have a lot to sort out before they can make any real progress.