Meghan Markle was reportedly "blindsided" by the "special bond" that now exists between her husband, Prince Harry, and her ailing sister-in-law, Kate, Princess of Wales.
"Everyone assumes Kate doesn’t like Harry, but they have a special bond that not many people really understand," a royal source spilled.
"She and Harry were extremely close at one time," they added. "She's confided in him during some of her darkest moments, and now that includes her cancer battle. Kate leaned on Harry for support," and "Meghan was blindsided and felt, maybe, a bit betrayed at first."
The insider claimed that the Duchess of Sussex came to her decision once she quickly realized just how long Harry and Kate have known one another. "She accepts that she wasn’t around when Kate and Harry first became friends" starting in the early 2000s. The source futher revealed how Meghan "really respected and admired Kate before things got bad between all of them."
Kate Middleton, as she was known before marrying William, and the Duke of Sussex have long been reported to be good friends. The future queen used to offer her brother-in-law "vital advice" when his relationship with Chelsy Davy was faltering back in the 2000s.
As for how the Prince of Wales took to this rediscovered bond between his wife and brother, the insider revealed that "He was surprised and concerned."
Out of all of Prince Harry and Meghan's media setbacks in 2023, the Duke of Sussex's memoir, Spare, is considered the most "damaging." Several members of his family were criticized in the book, but Prince William seemed to get this more than anybody else.
"We thought it might be the King and the Queen who were the villains of the piece, but it actually turned out to be his older brother," royal expert Rebecca English shared.
Upon its release on January 10, the tome contained two key passages that have dominated headlines about it ever since. One was Harry's recounting of an alleged physical altercation he had with his brother in 2019. Harry claimed William threw him to the ground in a fit of rage, which caused his back to land on and break a dog's water bowl on the floor. He further stated how his brother and Kate encouraged him to wear the infamous Nazi uniform to a 2005 costume party, which caused a worldwide scandal and cemented his "bad boy" reputation.
The Duke of Sussex frequently made fun of William's "balding head," which led him to "lose his good looks" in recent years. He also accused his older brother of never liking the Duchess of Sussex and never doing anything to defend him or her when it came to toxic press coverage about them.
