With Wimbledon coming to an end this weekend, the Princess of Wales, who is an avid tennis fan, can reflect on her previous years at the tournament.
As he has been patron of the All England Lawn Tennis Club since 2016, he is a familiar face at the event, having seen many matches throughout the year.
Earlier this year, Kate, 41, watched the match between Katie Boulter and Daria Saville at SW19.
But one experience that may stand out in his mind happened when he attended the event with his sister-in-law Meghan Markle, 41, in the summer of 2019.
It was seen as a public display of unity between Kate and the Duchess of Sussex…but all was not rosy behind the scenes.
Kate is attending Wimbledon this weekend, but her experience will probably be a lot more tearful than watching the ladies’ singles final with her sister-in-law Meghan Markle.
Meghan was pictured chatting with Kate at Wimbledon in 2019 after the pair were said to have had a strained relationship.
At the time, relations between Sussex and Cambridge were said to be fractious and strained, as rumors of a rift between them circulated.
Prince Harry laid out some of the arguments in his memoir, Spare, and said that Meghan and Kate had clashed over lipgloss at royal conferences in 2018, as well as rowing over bridesmaid dresses ahead of the royal wedding.
It was claimed that Meghan made Kate cry during a disagreement over the dress.
A friend, who asked not to be named, claimed Kate wanted to follow ‘protocol’, with Charlotte, then three, bridesmaids wearing tights – but Meghan refused.
Following the article that Harry wrote, the four gathered at Nottingham Cottage to discuss the story.
He wrote: ‘Things took a direct turn when Kate admitted that the stories in the papers about Meg crying were completely false.
“‘I know, Meghan, that I was the one who made you cry”‘.
According to Harry, Kate told Meghan that the duchess had ‘baby brain’ after she gave birth to her youngest child, Prince Louis.
Kate then allegedly demanded Meghan apologize to her and said: ‘We’re not close enough for you to talk about my hormones!’
The ‘Fab Four’ were no more when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex also pulled out of the joint Royal Foundation charity shared with the Welsh.
Meghan told Oprah in 2021 that ‘it’s nothing like what it seems’ when commenting on royal attendance
It was seen as a public display of unity between the heir’s wife and the wife of the ‘spare’ but all was not rosy behind the scenes.
Wimbledon was a rare joint appearance for Meghan and Kate, who are usually only seen together as the entire royal family at official engagements such as Trooping the Colour.
However, amid all the smiles and giggles between the pair and Kate’s sister, Pippa Middleton, it seems that tension was bubbling beneath the surface.
Meghan shed some light on how she really felt during the Wimbledon final in her Oprah interview.
In 2021, Oprah asked the Duchess: ‘Did you feel welcomed by everyone? It looked like you and Kate were… at Wimbledon where you were going to watch a friend play tennis…
‘What did it look like? You have two sister-in-laws out in the world, getting to know each other.
‘Was he helping you, embracing you in the family, helping you adjust?’
Meghan began by saying: ‘I think everyone has welcomed me.’
But then he said: ‘When you say, “What did it look like?”, my understanding and my experience of the last four years is, it’s nothing like what it looks like.
‘Nothing is as it seems. ‘
The Duchess then said that the royal family would advise her on what she should and shouldn’t do and how it might look to people outside the firm.
Amidst all the smiles and giggles between the pair and Kate’s sister Pippa Middleton, it seems there was tension bubbling beneath the surface.
With the release of Spare and their Netflix docuseries, things are now considered more divisive than ever between them.
Meghan added: ‘There was one day that a family member, he came over, and he said, “Why don’t you lie down, because you’re everywhere now”.’
‘And I said, “Leaved home twice in four months. I’ve been everywhere, but nowhere”.
‘And from that perspective, I keep saying to people, “I know there’s an obsession with how things look, but has anyone talked about how it feels? Because right now, I can’t feel alone.”‘
Kate and Meghan also went to a charity polo match together in 2019 to watch Harry and William play together on ‘Mum’s Day’, just days after the Wimbledon incident.
But according to the writers of Finding Freedom, the stand-off episode at a charity polo match was a snapshot of Meghan and Kate’s ‘cordial but distant relationship’.
According to the explosive biography, their relationship reportedly struggled to get past the distant politeness when they first met.
‘When doting mothers were photographed with their children next to each other, the two appeared to barely exchange a word,’ the authors wrote.
In photographs from the event, Meghan, standing away from Kate and her family, cradled her newborn son and planted a tender kiss on his head.
Meanwhile the princess spent most of the match entertaining her three children, who were running around the pitch and chasing footballs.
Despite standing close to each other for portions of the match, the women rarely appeared to interact.
Less than a year after that match in January 2020, Harry and Meghan announced they were leaving the Royal Family and splitting their time between America and the UK before moving there permanently.