Meghan Markle ‘felt she had more of a right to speak’ than Kate Middleton at certain events because she was a ‘self-made woman’, a source has claimed.
The Duchess of Sussex, 42, was allegedly uneasy with the Prince and Princess of Wales being the superior royals in the palace hierarchy when she joined the Royal Family.
This was particularly the case during a Royal Foundation Forum in February 2018, a source said, where it was claimed the tension between the ‘Fab Four’ was ‘palpable’.
Meghan, who is married to Prince Harry, felt ‘she was a self-made woman whereas Kate hadn’t really had her own career’, an insider told The Telegraph.
The source said: ‘She seemed to feel like she had more of a right to speak than her sister-in-law, who had married into the family as an unknown whereas Meghan regarded herself as a philanthropist who could teach the royals a thing or two about charity.
‘I think she found it difficult that the Royal Foundation was already a well oiled machine by the time she got there.’
However, Omid Scobie previously claimed that Kate failed to foster a ‘meaningful’ relationship with her sister-in-law Meghan in his first book Finding Freedom.
It was also reported that Meghan received a ‘lukewarm’ reception from ‘formal’ William and Kate when her relationship with Prince Harry turned serious.
As Harry wrote in his book Spare, when he first introduced Meghan to his brother Kate had remained in the garden – which wasn’t the welcome they had hoped for.
Harry and Meghan are facing more backlash as they continue to maintain their silence on royal racism claims made by Scobie in his latest book, Endgame.
The couple are yet to speak on the book, and it has been reported that a meeting between King Charles and Prince William is set to take place next week.
It could have serious consequences for Harry and Meghan as William is believed to ‘want action’ after his wife Kate was named alongside Charles as the two royals who expressed ‘concern’ about Archie’s skin colour.
Meanwhile, an MP has revealed his intention to introduce a Bill calling on Parliament to strip the Sussexes of their titles in wake of the row.
And in a shock snub, Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster, has decided not to invite Harry and Meghan to his society wedding to avoid ‘drama’.
One of Prince Harry’s closest friends and godfather to his son Archie, he is believed to have been keen to invite the Sussexes before deciding not to so his nuptials wouldn’t be overshadowed by royal tensions.
William and Kate and the King and the Queen are all invited, with the Prince of Wales even thought to be in the running to be best man.
Known as Hughie to this friends, the billionaire Duke is also godfather to William’s son Prince George, ten.
A life-long friend for each of the brothers, he is thought to be the only pal both chose to mentor their children.
In the wake of the fallout of Scobie’s latest book, the Royal Family has adopted a ‘business as usual’ stance, but the possibility of legal action remains. The final decision on the next step rests with Charles, who, according to sources, will not act hastily.
A Palace source said: ‘Most right-thinking people would expect an apology – who wouldn’t?
‘Being falsely branded a racist in print is a serious allegation that must be treated seriously. All options are still on the table.’
Sources close to the Sussexes have attempted to distance the couple from the book.
They say Meghan never intended the King or Princess of Wales to be publicly identified in the race row and say the letter was not leaked to Scobie by anyone close to her.
She is likely to be less disappointed than her husband to miss out on the Duke’s wedding celebrations, expected to be held at his 10,872-acre Eaton Hall estate in Cheshire. Scobie has said she is loathe to return to England and ‘dive back into the soap opera’.
It comes as Conservative MP Bob Seely is putting forward a Bill that could deny the Sussexes their Duke and Duchess titles.
Writing in The Mail on Sunday, he said that he felt compelled to act because of the ‘use of race to smear the Royal Family’ – and proposes to revive First World War laws that could pave the way to making the couple plain Mr and Mrs Sussex.
The Isle of Wight MP wants to adapt laws originally passed to deny enemy German nobles their British titles. Mr Seely said he had to act because of the attempt to use race to smear the Royal Family, which he called ‘poisonously insidious’.
He is applying for his Titles Deprivation 1917 Amendment Bill to be listed on the Commons’ Order Paper next week. It would resurrect the wartime powers by removing references to ‘enemies’ and ‘present war’. He has cleared the wording with Parliament’s Table Office, which oversees draft legislation.
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