Prince Harry has provided further intimate details into the falling out between Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle in his new explosive memoir Spare. 

In the book, which was released earlier this week, the Duke of Sussex shares  how the women were both left in tears during the infamous bridesmaid dress row, while also detailing a disagreement over a shared lip gloss.

However elsewhere, he reveals a number of others tense moments between the two women - including the moment the Princess of Wales dismissed Meghan's remedies for a common cold which at the dinner table.

Meanwhile he also says his sister-in-law was put 'on edge' after realising she 'was now going to be compared to, and forced to compete with, Meghan'. 

Kate dismissed Meghan's home remedies 

Before Prince Harry and Meghan married in 2018, Harry writes that they had Prince William and Kate over for dinner.

The Prince was unwell, with Harry detailing Meghan 'ran upstairs' to get him some 'homeopathic cure-alls', including oregano oil, turmeric.

He writes the offer quickly lead to a tense  moment at the dinner table, detailing: 'He seemed charmed, moved, though Kate announced to the table that he’d never take such unconventional remedies.'

Kate and Meghan's varying degrees of formality

On the same night as the one in question, the Duke says there was only one 'possibly discordant note' which he said was the 'marked difference in how the two women dressed.'

He said while Meghan was 'barefoot' and wearing 'ripped jeans', Kate was 'done up to the nines.'  

He explained both Kate and Meghan noticed their dissimilarities in their level of formality.

Kate felt 'on edge' over having to 'compete with Meghan'

According to Prince Harry, there were a number of awkward moments during the Royal Foundation Forum in 2018. 

It was to be the first, and only, royal engagement between the Dukes and Duchesses of Cambridge and Sussex, and at the time it was billed as an annual occasion.

However, Harry explains that following the event, there was 'controversy' over Meghan showing support for #MeToo, while Kate did not. 

He details: 'It wasn’t real. But I think it had Kate on edge, while putting her and everyone else on notice that she was now going to be compared to, and forced to compete with, Meg. 

Tension over freebies and fashion contacts  

Elsewhere, Harry writes Meghan 'acknowledged the tension' between the group after they returned from honeymoon in 2018. 

She suggested it 'might go back to those early days when she’d first joined the family—a misunderstanding that had almost passed without notice. 

'Kate thought Meg had wanted her fashion contacts. But Meg had her own.'

However Ingrid Seward has suggested the disagreement was actually due to Meghan's love of freebies from fashion houses.

She told The Mirror: 'Meghan knew Kate disapproved of her keeping gifts showered on her by fashion houses as that is not the royal way. But she did it anyway as that was her way.'

Harry even acknowledges Meghan accepted freebies while working at Kensington Palace.

The usual practice within the Royal Family is to send back unsolicited gifts which have been sent to the palace for free.

Yet in his book, Harry admits that Meghan took free gifts, but also ­distributed them to her staff.

Harry says: 'She shared all the freebies she received, clothes and perfumes and make-up, with all the women in the office.'

If a member of the Royal Family is seen wearing an item of clothing, it can be worth thousands of pounds in advertising, marketing executives say.

Dresses worn by the Princess of Wales often sell out within minutes of her being pictured in a particular brand or designer item.

With this in mind, members of the Royal family pay for their own clothes in order to avoid being seen as a commercial enterprise. 

The bridesmaid dress row wasn't corrected to save Kate's 'embarrassment' 

One of the largest causes of the rift which has been made public is the row over bridesmaid dresses. 

There were reports that Kate and Meghan clashed over bridesmaid dresses ahead of the wedding in 2018. 

It was claimed Meghan had made Kate cry during a row over the outfits.

One unnamed friend claims Kate wanted to follow 'protocol', with the bridesmaids, including Charlotte, then three, wearing tights – but Meghan disagreed.

May 2018 - Meghan Markle and Prince Harry tie the knot in St George's Chapel in Windsor

The bridesmaids, including Jessica Mulroney's daughter Ivy and Princess Charlotte, have bare legs

November 2018 - The Telegraph's royal editor Camilla Tominey wrote she had 'spoken to two separate sources who claim Kate was left in tears following a bridesmaids dress fitting for Princess Charlotte'.

May 2020 - Tatler reports the two argued over protocol around young bridesmaids' tights

March 2021 - Meghan confirms there was a disagreement in her bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview but says the Duchess of Cambridge actually made her cry.

Royal expert Katie Nicholl says Kate 'never wanted' reports of a rift to come out in the press and has found the situation 'mortifying'

January 2023: Harry's memoirs reveals new rifts between the Sussexes and the Wales

Harry writes that following the article, the foursome came together in Nottingham Cottage to discuss the story.

He pens: 'Kate got things rolling straightaway by acknowledging that these stories in the papers about Meg making her cry were totally false.

"'I know, Meghan, that I was the one who made you cry"'. 

Meghan 'appreciated' Kate's apology over the situation, but asked what was being done to correct the issue. 

He writes: 'Why haven’t they phoned this execrable woman who wrote this story, and demanded a retraction? Kate, flustered, didn’t answer, and Willy chimed in with some very supportive-sounding evasions, but I already knew the truth. 

'No one at the Palace could phone the correspondent, because that would invite the inevitable retort: Well, if the story’s wrong, what’s the real story? 

'What did happen between the two duchesses? And that door must never be opened, because it would embarrass the future queen.'

In his book Revenge, Tom Bower claimed unnamed sources told him the Duchess of Cambridge and Duchess of Sussex disagreed over the length of Princess Charlotte's hemline and the fit of her dress.

He also claimed Meghan's 'insistence' was 'supported' by bridesmaid Jessica Mulroney, adding: 'Some would say that Meghan compared Ivy [Mulroney's daughter] favourably against Charlotte'. 

The Duchess of Sussex later disagreed in her bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview, claiming it was the other way around and adding: 'She [Kate] was upset about something, but she owned it, and she apologised. And she brought me flowers'.

Meghan also said: 'It wasn't a confrontation, and I actually think it's… I don't think it's fair to her to get into the details of that, because she apologised.

'What was hard to get over was being blamed for something that not only I didn't do but that happened to me.

'And the people who were part of our wedding were going to our comms team and saying: 'I know this didn't happen. I don't have to tell them what actually happened'.'

At the time, royal  expert Katie Nicholl said Kate 'never wanted' reports of a rift to come out in the Press and had found the situation 'mortifying'. 

'From what I hear, there are different versions of the bridesmaid story, not just the one Meghan discussed,' the royal expert told the publication.

'Kate felt it was all sorted, so to have it brought up again was mortifying. Kate is not in a position to respond and Meghan and Harry know that.

The royal expert went on to claim that Kate was left 'saddened, disappointed and hurt' in the wake of Meghan and Prince Harry's tell-all interview. 

However, rather than put the whole issue to bed, Prince Harry revisited the argument in his book – offering new explosive detail.

He said Kate messaged Meghan days before the wedding stating there was a problem with the bridesmaid dresses – specifically, Charlotte's.

He claims Meghan tried to send Kate to the tailor at the Palace to have it fixed.

According to Harry, Meghan found an hour to chat to Kate, who said Charlotte's dress was too big for her, and she had cried when she tried it on. 

Meanwhile Harry also recounts another awkward moment, which saw the family celebrating Trooping the Colour in 2018. 

He said the mood was lively before Kate asked Meghan what she thought of the first parade of regimental colours, to which Meghan quipped 'colourful'.

Harry calls the silence which followed 'deathly' and said it 'threatened to engulf us all.' 

The duke also wrote that it wasn't the only issue Kate had with the planning of the wedding, mentioning an issue with the page boys, but didn't go into further detail.

After the discussion, Harry said he returned home to find Meghan sobbing on the floor of the kitchen, overcome with stress and worry.

He added that Kate arrived at the house the next day with a card and apology flowers. 

Meghan described the episode as a 'turning point' in her relationship with Kate. 

But the tension didn't stop there - Harry also writes that Meghan and he were upset that Will and Kate switched place cards to rearrange their table at the royal wedding.

He says that the Cambridges later insisted it was not them, but it had been another guest. 

An awkward first meeting  

The Duchess of Sussex revealed she was 'barefoot' and wearing ripped jeans when she first met Kate.

Discussing the meeting , she said she did not know the 'formality' continues behind closed doors and that she is a 'hugger' – which she did not realise was 'jarring for some Brits'.

She admitted she was 'surprised' there is a 'forward-facing way of being and then you close the door'. 

She said: 'Even when Will and Kate came over and I was meeting her for the first time I remember I was in ripped jeans, I was barefoot. Like I was a hugger, I have always been a hugger I didn't realise that is really jarring for a lot of Brits.'

'I started to understand that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside, that there is a forward facing way of being and then you close the door and think "OK we can relax now". 

'But that formality carries over on both sides and that was surprising to me.' 

Tension over lip gloss 

As Meghan was introduced into royal life, Prince Harry penned there were signs of discord between his future wife and his sister-in-law.

In his book, he detailed how Meghan asked to borrow a lip-gloss from Kate ahead of their appearance at the first Royal Foundation forum summit in 2018.

He writes that Kate was surprised, but rummaged around in her bag before offering it to Meghan.

Harry goes on to claim that Meg applied a little gloss to her finger, and rubbed it across her lips, before Kate made a 'disgusted' face.

The summit was William, Kate, Harry and Meghan's joint venture and was intended to harness the star power of the four high-profile royals. 

At the time, Harry said 'working as family does have its challenges', but insisted 'we're stuck together for the rest of our lives'. 

Harry was quick to clarify they were 'healthy disagreements' and joked they 'come so thick and fast' when asked what the last thing they quarrelled on was.

William continued the banter, quipping: 'Is it resolved? We don't know!'

Speaking on The Heirpod podcast, the co-author of Harry and Meghan's bombshell biography Finding Freedom, claimed the Duchess of Sussex and the Duchess of Cambridge were 'never at war' – but their relationship lacked any 'depth'. 

'They were never at war and never the duelling duchesses. They were just two women who had this very surface level friendship,' he said on his podcast. 

'They were able to connect and bond to trips to Wimbledon – we saw them there a couple of times. '

'But certainly where more depth was required or perhaps a stronger shoulder of support from the Duchess of Cambridge's side, we saw that that didn't happen, over and over again.'

He continued: 'And it was one of the things that really left Meghan a bit disappointed in that friendship... as there were times that she really would've appreciated that extra support internally.'

The author suggested that the then-Duchess of Cambridge might've been too busy to help the Duchess of Sussex.

'People have asked why Kate may have not been there in that situation and I really don't know but it's clear at the time her priorities weren't there,' Mr Scobie said.

'We do see her as an incredibly dedicated wife, mother and member of the Royal family and maybe that's a lot for one person to juggle.' 

But Harry steered the topic back towards the serious message, adding: 'I think it's really good we have got four different personalities and we all have that same passion to make a difference.

'We have different opinions and they work really well [together]. Working as family does have its challenges; of course it does. [I think] the fact that everybody is laughing shows they know 'exactly' what's it like. But we are stuck together for the rest of our lives.'

Conflict in Kensington Palace  

According to Harry, after he and Meghan returned from their honeymoon, the Prince and Princess of Wales invited Harry and Meghan to their flat at Kensington Palace.

But the chat over tea and biscuits in June 2018 descended into further conflict. 

Harry laid out in extraordinary detail the meeting with William and Kate when an attempt to mend the growing rift between the Sussexes and the Waleses failed.

But both couples would end up sharing more gripes rather than patching things up.

He described arriving at their Kensington Palace flat and said that Meghan’s mouth was open because of the décor, priceless art on the walls, books and furniture, saying ‘wow’ repeatedly.

Harry said that they had been thinking to themselves that their neighbouring flat had Ikea lamps and furniture ‘we'd recently bought on sale with Meg's credit card on sofa.com’.

They then sat down for a cup of tea and some biscuits where they asked after the Wales’ children, and they had been asked about their honeymoon. 

But after that Meghan decided to raise the question of their relationship and tensions going back to when she started dating Harry.

She suggested there had been crossed wires when Kate thought Meghan wanted to use her connections in the fashion industry – but in fact she already had her own.

Meghan suggested that these problems had been magnified by the wedding preparations and the discussions over bridesmaids dresses.

Harry wrote that there were further issues – including William and Kate feeling disgruntled they hadn't received a gift for Easter.   

Harry then claims that Kate became upset and demanded an apology from Meghan for offending her when she mentioned her hormones after giving birth and suggesting it had affected her memory. 

Meghan initially said she couldn’t remember but then added she could remember what the disagreement was about.

Harry claimed Meghan said Kate had forgotten something, and she had told her it didn't matter because it was probably because of the hormones.

Harry said Kate then said the two were not close enough for Meghan to talk about her hormones. 

Meghan then said she spoke to all her friends that way.

William then called Meghan 'rude' to her face and 'pointed a finger at her' and explained: 'These things are not done here'.

In an excerpt, which lays bare the rift between the Sussexes and the Waleses, Meghan then told William: 'If you don't mind, keep your finger out of my face'. 

Defending his wife, Harry wrote: 'Meg said that she had never intentionally done anything to offend Kate and that if she had, she begged her to let her know so she could avoid a reoccurrence'.

The Duchess of Sussex is then said to have declared that she had not wanted to offend Kate. 

They all hugged and left, Harry said, because they thought it best to head home rather than row further.  

A trip to Wimbledon which 'wasn't what it seemed'

In 2019, Kate and Meghan made a second joint public appearance with one another, attending the Wimbledon women's final.

While the bridesmaid dress row is well known, Prince Harry also details a number of other disagreements in the wedding planning process.

He writes: 'Kate had other problems with the way Meg was planning her wedding. 

Something about a party for the page boys? 

'The page boys? Half the kids in the wedding are from North America. 

'They haven’t even arrived yet.'

The two seemed to be getting on famously as they chatted and smiled in the Royal Box, after taking their seats to watch Meghan's good friend Serena Williams, who was beaten two sets to nil by Romania's Simona Halep in the Ladies' Singles Final.

Kate made her way to the grounds ahead of Meghan, to attend a lunch for club members and former champions in her role as patron of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club before the game. 

The two women appeared chatty and jovial as they watched the match – putting to bed any feud rumours.

However, Meghan would later pour cold water on the outing. In her 2021 Oprah interview, she was also asked about a memorable joint-outing to Wimbledon, where the pair put on a united front and were pictured laughing together.

Referring to a day the pair spent together at Wimbledon at 2019, she asked: 'Did you feel welcomed by everyone? It seemed like you and Kate at the Wimbledon game where you were going to watch a friend play tennis?' 

'Was it what it looked like? You are two sisters-in-law out there in the world, getting to know each other. Was she helping you, embracing you into the family, helping you?'

However Meghan appeared to dodge the question, saying: 'My understanding and my experience of the past four years is it's nothing like what it looks like.

'It's nothing like what it looks like. And I remember so often people within the Firm would say, "Well, you can't do this because it'll look like that. You can't" so, even, "Can I go and have lunch with my friends?". No, no, no. You're oversaturated. You're everywhere. It would be best for you to not go out to lunch with your friends."   

Row over wearing the same colours  

Meghan appeared to take a swipe at Kate in the third episode of her and Prince Harry's documentary, Harry & Meghan.

She said she tried to 'tone down' her outfits by wearing beige and white to ensure she didn't overshadow anyone. 

'Most of the time I was in the UK, I rarely wore colour. I wore a lot of muted tones, but it was so I could just blend in. Like I’m not trying to stand out here,' she explained.

The duchess also said she was told she 'shouldn't be wearing the same colour as one of the other, more senior members of the family.'

'To my understanding, you can’t ever wear the same color as Her Majesty if there’s a group event,' she continued.

'You also shouldn’t be wearing the same color as one of the other more senior members of the family.'

She reiterated the statement in episode five: 'Until that last week in the UK, I rarely wore color and I never wanted to upstage or ruffle any feathers, so I just tried to blend in.' 

The following day, Kate was joined by a number of other members of the Royal Family wearing a shade of burgundy at her carol concert. 

Kate, 40, who hosted the service, opted for a maroon, buttoned-up, ankle-length pea coat and matching heels. She paired the look with a similar-coloured clutch.

In addition, her seven-year-old daughter, Princess Charlotte; sister Pippa Middleton, 39; and Princess Anne's daughter Zara Tindall, 41, all wore alike-colored ensembles.

Upon seeing the matching outfits, many social media users wondered if it was a message to Meghan.  

Read more:

'How could you say such things?' Prince Harry reveals how beloved nanny Tiggy and King Charles' friend Emilie van Cutsem berated him over explosive Oprah interview 

'The line between memory and fact is blurry': Harry's ghostwriter defends the duke over inaccuracies in his memoir Spare - including that he was descended from King Henry VI and was given an Xbox before they were manufactured 

'It was no palace': Prince Harry admits he was 'EMBARRASSED' to show Meghan his Nottingham Cottage home and reveals the Suits actress likened it to a 'frat house'