Prince Harry resented the time Prince William and Princess Catherine took to develop their relationship, according to royal author Simon Vigar. Comparing the Waleses' romance with that of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Vigar found Harry and Meghan's progress at "warp speed".
Vigar made the comments on the Daily Mail's Palace Confidential podcast while discussing his new book, "The Four Wives of Windsor - The Inside Story of Diana, Camilla, Catherine and Meghan – The True Power Behind The Royal Family".
Lessons learned and unlearned
Vigar spoke about the lessons learned concerning the speed with which royal wives enter the Firm. He observed that Prince William's marriage to the then Kate Middleton was not rushed, unlike his mother Diana, Princess of Wales's marriage to the then Prince Charles.
He told Palace Confidential that Princess Catherine was given years to decide whether she wanted to join the Royal Family, and when she did, Kate "absolutely committed to it". On the relationship between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Vigar said those lessons were "unlearned".
"William was concerned it was all happening too quickly. Harry bristled at that and didn't like his brother's reaction to that," the author said. He claimed Harry was genuinely worried nobody would want to join the Royal Family with him.
Catherine's successful entry
Vigar said that while Princess Diana appeared well-suited to the role of a royal wife, coming from an aristocratic family, Catherine has been the most successful person to join the Windsors. This was reportedly because she and William had time to pursue a relatively "normal" relationship, attending university and being left alone by the media.
"That's something Harry never had and clearly resented. The relationship with Meghan, once they mutually decided this is it, which was very early on, it went into warp drive and they were married in 2018," Vigar added.
Timeline of two royal romances
Harry and Meghan met in July 2016 and went public with their relationship four months later. In September 2017, Meghan told Vanity Fair that she and Harry were in love. Weeks later, she moved to London, and the couple announced their engagement in November of the same year. They married on May 19, 2018.
William and Catherine met while studying at St Andrews University in 2001. The heir to the throne moved into a flat with his future wife and another college friend in 2002. Their first public appearance together was at the wedding of Queen Camilla's daughter, Laura Parker-Bowles, in 2006. The following year, they broke up for a couple of months, but by July 2007 there were reports of a reconciliation. The future king proposed to Catherine during a trip to Kenya in October 2010, and the couple tied the knot in April 2011 in a fairytale wedding at Westminster Abbey.
