An awkward moment involving lip gloss between Meghan Markle and Princess Catherine left the latter grimacing, according to Prince Harry's explosive memoir, Spare. The incident, detailed by Harry, underscores the early friction between the Duchess of Sussex and the Princess of Wales, both aged 44.
The Lip Gloss Incident
Prince Harry wrote that the encounter occurred backstage at an event. Meghan, having forgotten her own lip gloss, asked to borrow Catherine's. Harry described it as "an American thing." Catherine reluctantly retrieved a small tube from her handbag, and Meghan squeezed some onto her finger before applying it to her lips.
"Kate grimaced. Small clash of styles, maybe? Something we should've been able to laugh about soon after. But it left a little mark," Harry wrote. He added that the press later sensed tension and attempted to magnify the incident, leading him to think, "Here we go, I thought sorrowfully."
Broader Tensions Between the Couples
The Waleses and the Sussexes were initially dubbed the "Fab Four" for their close bond and joint engagements. Following Harry and Meghan's engagement announcement in 2017, Catherine expressed delight in a joint statement with Prince William: "We are very excited for Harry and Meghan. It has been wonderful getting to know Meghan and to see how happy she and Harry are together." She later told reporters, "William and I are absolutely thrilled."
In 2018, after Meghan's first pregnancy was announced, Catherine again conveyed happiness, noting it would be "a cousin for George and Charlotte, as well, and Louis." However, beneath the surface, tensions simmered. Days before Harry and Meghan's May 2018 wedding, a dispute arose over alterations to Princess Charlotte's bridesmaid dress. Reports initially suggested Meghan left Catherine in tears, but Meghan insisted during her 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview that the "reverse happened."
Escalating Conflicts
Tensions peaked in June 2018 at Kensington Palace when Meghan suggested Catherine might have "baby brain" due to hormones after Prince Louis's birth. Catherine reportedly told Meghan they were not close enough to discuss her hormones, leaving Meghan baffled. Ultimately, Catherine and Meghan never formed a close friendship before the Sussexes stepped down as senior royals and moved to the US in 2020.
Since their departure, Harry and Meghan have aired family grievances in interviews, with Harry making explosive claims in Spare. Catherine has reportedly given up trying to encourage William to mend his relationship with Harry and did not push for a meeting during Harry's recent UK visit.
Final Straw Over King Charles's Cancer Remarks
According to royal biographer Christopher Andersen, Catherine reached her "final straw" with Harry after his remarks about King Charles's cancer. In his biography Kate! The Courage, Grace, and Power of the Woman Who Will Be Queen, Andersen claimed Catherine had initially refused to abandon efforts to heal the rift between William and Harry. However, Harry's comments about Charles's mortality during a BBC interview abruptly ended her attempts.
"She would not give up," Andersen told Fox News Digital. "Even after Harry threw William under the bus in his memoir Spare, she was willing to keep trying. And the final break came." He added that Harry's statement about wanting to mend fences because "we just don't know how long [my father] has to live" was hurtful to Catherine, who had her own cancer diagnosis revealed in March 2024. Andersen said the remarks "ignited this firestorm of speculation about how sick the king really was."
