Prince Harry has disclosed a moment of awkward silence within the Royal Family, triggered by his wife Meghan Markle’s light-hearted response to a question from Kate Middleton.
In his contentious memoir, Spare, Harry recounts an incident during the annual Trooping the Colour celebration for Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday in 2018.
He wrote: “We returned just in time for the official June celebration of Granny’s birthday. Trooping the Colour: one of our first appearances as newlyweds. Everyone present was in a good mood, upbeat.”
However, the atmosphere changed when Kate asked Meghan her thoughts on her first Trooping the Colour, to which Meghan replied with a joke.
The Duke of Sussex recalled: “But then: Kate asked Meg what she thought of her first Trooping the Colour. And Meg joked: Colourful.”
Harry continued: “And a yawning silence threatened to swallow us all whole.”
Earlier in the book, Harry shared some initial interactions between Meghan and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, writing: “Kate seemed to like her too. We’d had them over for dinner during one of Meg’s visits, and Meg cooked, and everything was good.
“Willy had a cold: he was sneezing and coughing, and Meg ran upstairs to get him some of her homeopathic cure-alls. Oregano oil, turmeric. He seemed charmed, moved, though Kate announced to the table that he’d never take such unconventional remedies.”
Five years on from Harry and Meghan’s dramatic departure from the Royal Family, speculation continues to swirl about the relationship between the two couples. Reports last year suggested that following King Charles’ cancer diagnosis, his youngest son briefly returned to the UK but did not seize the opportunity to visit his elder brother.
As Kate celebrates her 43rd birthday today, she reflects on one of her most challenging years yet, having announced last March that she was diagnosed with cancer and would begin chemotherapy. However, much to the joy of her supporters, just six months after sharing the distressing news, she confirmed that she was cancer-free post-treatment.