Prince Harry has lifted the lid on an explosive argument he had with Meghan Markle in the early days of their romance. While the Sussexes en…
Prince Harry has lifted the lid on an explosive argument he had with Meghan Markle in the early days of their romance.
While the Sussexes enjoy a life of great luxury and privilege, they are like any other couple behind closed doors. Harry admitted to having a huge row with Meghan one evening in December 2016, a few months into their relationship, recalling that he spoke to her ‘cruelly’ at the time. The Duke wrote about the incident, their first major argument, in his tell-all memoir Spare. He said the evening began well, with Meghan teaching him how to roast a chicken while they listened to James Taylor and Nina Simone songs and drank some wine.
But things quickly took a turn. “Maybe the wine went to my head,” he wrote. “Maybe the weeks of battling the press had worn me down. For some reason, when the conversation took an unexpected turn, I became touchy. Then angry. Disproportionately, sloppily angry. Meg said something I took the wrong way. It was partly a cultural difference, partly a language barrier, but I was also just over-sensitive that night. I thought: Why’s she having a go at me? I snapped at her, spoke to her harshly – cruelly.
“As the words left my mouth, I could feel everything in the room come to a stop. The gravy stopped bubbling, the molecules of air stopped orbiting. Even Nina Simone seemed to pause. Meg walked out of the room, disappearing for a full fifteen minutes.” Harry said he then went upstairs, where he found Meghan sitting calmly in the bedroom. She told him “she would never stand for being spoken to like that” and asked him where his anger had “come from”.
“Where did you ever hear a man speak like that to a woman?” Harry says Meghan asked him. “Did you overhear adults speak that way when you were growing up? I cleared my throat, looked away. Yes. She wasn’t going to tolerate that kind of partner. Or co-parent. That kind of life. She wasn’t going to raise children in an atmosphere of anger or disrespect. She laid it all out, super-clear. We both knew my anger hadn’t been caused by anything to do with our conversation.” Harry then said Meghan suggested that he find a new therapist.
It comes after a Kensington Palace aide spoke about Harry and Meghan’s arguments prior to leaving royal life – and how they differ from Prince William and Princess Kate. In an exclusive interview with Daily Express US, Tom Quinn, author of Gilded Youth: An Intimate History of Growing Up in the Royal Family, shared the private conversations he had with a Palace insider.
The royal author explained: “Someone who worked for Kensington Palace told me they [William and Kate] do have rows. It’s not a perfect marriage. They have terrific rows.” However, “where some couples have a row and throw heavy vases at each other, William and Kate throw cushions at each other. It’s always kept under control”, Mr Quinn learned. “It doesn’t escalate. The fight doesn’t get bigger and bigger”, the Palace aid told the royal author. Harry and Meghan’s arguments are an entirely different story, the aide alleged. “When Harry and Meghan fight, they both really get into it in a big way,” he told Mr Quinn.