Prince Harry has revealed an awkward moment between Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton that left his sister-in-law visibly uncomfortable. The Duke of Sussex recounted the incident in his memoir Spare, describing it as a small but telling clash of styles between the two women.
The episode took place during Trooping the Colour shortly after Harry married Meghan in 2018. According to the memoir, Meghan realized she had forgotten her lip gloss and turned to Kate for help.
“Meg asked to borrow Kate’s lip gloss. An American thing. Meg forgot hers, worried she needed some, and turned to Kate for help,” Harry wrote. He continued, “Kate, taken aback, went into her handbag and reluctantly pulled out a small tube.
Meg squeezed some onto her finger and applied 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 noted that what might have been a trivial moment instead created tension, reflecting the cultural differences that sometimes emerged within the royal household.
The Duke of Sussex stepped down as a senior royal in 2020 alongside Meghan and their son, Archie. The couple later accused the Royal Family of racist treatment toward their child and went public with their grievances in high-profile interviews.
Since relocating to California, Harry and Meghan have welcomed their daughter, Princess Lilibet, and pursued new ventures outside of the royal institution. Still, Harry’s memoir has drawn attention for its candid accounts of private royal life, including the lip gloss anecdote, which highlights the strained relationship between Meghan and Kate.
Observers have pointed out that while the incident seems minor, Harry’s framing of it suggests it carried more weight than one might expect. It symbolized, in his eyes, how small cultural differences or misunderstandings could contribute to growing unease.
The revelations in Spare continue to spark debate about Harry and Meghan’s time as working royals and their decision to step away from royal duties. The lip gloss story, while seemingly trivial, adds to the portrait Harry paints of the distance that developed between his wife and other members of the royal family.
As Harry and Meghan continue building their lives in the United States, their accounts of life within the monarchy remain closely watched, fueling ongoing discussions about tradition, modernity, and cultural clashes within the royal household.