Prince Harry’s memoir Spare was published one year ago and HELLO! is taking a look back at some of the biggest revelations…
Prince Harry made headlines this time last year when his memoir Spare was unexpectedly released early in Spain.
A year on, we are looking back at all the things the Duke of Sussex said in the bombshell book about his sister-in-law, Princess Kate.
From the moment they first met to sharing news of his first child, the pair have been through countless life milestones alongside one another. Despite meeting on excellent terms, their relationship became more complex as time went on.
Keep scrolling to read about nine of the biggest things Prince Harry said about his sister-in-law…
Meeting Kate
The Duke of Sussex opened up about the first time he met Princess Kate ahead of the infamous party where he donned the wrong kind of uniform. He even said what a laugh they had at the expense of Prince William’s cat-inspired costume.
Prince Harry recalled being able to have a laugh with his sister-in-law when they met, especially at the expense of Prince William!
“I liked his new girlfriend,” wrote the Prince. “She was carefree, sweet, kind. She’d done a gap year in Florence, knew about photography, art. And clothes. She loved clothes. Her name was Kate.
“I forget what native or colonial thing she was wearing to the party, but with her help Willy had chosen for himself some kind of…feline outfit. Skintight leotard with (am I remembering this correctly?) a springy, bouncy tail. He tried it on for us and he looked like a cross between Tigger and Baryshnikov.
“Kate and I had a great time pointing our fingers at him and rolling around on the floor. It was ridiculous, especially in a three-way mirror. But ridiculous, they both said, was the point of the upcoming party.”
The sister he always wanted
One sweet moment in the book saw Harry recall the bittersweet love he had for Kate during her wedding day, describing her as: “The sister he always wanted,” but also that he felt as if he was losing his brother.
Harry described Kate as “the sister he always wanted”
“I recall Kate walking down the aisle, looking incredible, and I recall Willy walking her back up the aisle, and as they disappeared through the door, into the carriage that would convey them to Buckingham Palace, into the eternal partnership they’d pledged, I recall thinking: Goodbye.
“I loved my new sister-in-law, I felt she was more sister than in-law, the sister I’d never had and always wanted, and I was pleased that she’d forever be standing by Willy’s side. She was a good match for my older brother. They made each other visibly happy, and therefore I was happy too.
The Duke of Sussex revealed William and Kate’s wedding day was bittersweet for him
“But in my gut I couldn’t help feeling that this was yet another farewell under this horrid roof. Another sundering. The brother I’d escorted into Westminster Abbey that morning was gone – forever. “
Kate’s first reaction to news of Meghan
Harry explained that Princess Kate and Prince William’s reaction was much better than he’d hoped as he worried: “Willy and Kate might not welcome Meg into the family.” But due to their love of the TV show, Suits, Meghan starred in: “Now I had to worry about them hounding her for an autograph.”
© Karwai Tang
Prince Harry revealed Kate had a lovely reaction to news he and Meghan were expecting Prince Archie
He added: “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.”
The Princess’ baby joy
When Meghan was pregnant with her first child, Prince Archie, Princess Kate’s reaction was everything Harry wanted it to be, he explained.
Harry said Kate and William were big fans of Suits when he told them about his new girlfriend Meghan Markle
“We whispered the news, and Willy smiled and said we must tell Kate. She was across the room, talking to Pippa. I said we could do it later, but he insisted. So we went and told Kate and she also gave a big smile and hearty Congratulations. They both reacted exactly as I’d hoped—as I’d wished.”
Lipstick gate
One moment in the memoir saw Harry explain a number of the frictious points with his sister-in-law, one of the first being an alleged incident with lipgloss.
“Meg asked to borrow Kate’s lip gloss. An American thing. Meg forgot hers, worried she needed some, and turned to Kate for help. Kate, taken aback, went into her handbag and reluctantly pulled out a small tube. Meg squeezed some onto her finger and applied it to her lips. Kate grimaced. Small clash of styles, maybe? Something we should’ve been able to laugh about soon after. But it left a little mark.”
Meghan asked to use Kate’s lipgloss
Harry also recalled a conversation between Meghan and Kate, following the Duchess’ first Trooping the Colour. “Kate asked Meg what she thought of her first Trooping the Color. And Meg joked: Colorful. And a yawning silence threatened to swallow us all whole.”
Harry and Meghan’s wedding day
Another situation described by the Duke was ahead of their wedding day in 2018 when Princess Charlotte’s bridesmaid dress didn’t fit. The point of tension came at a difficult time for the Sussexes as Meghan had been dealing with problems with her father, Thomas Markle, Harry said.
The Duke talked about a situation before his wedding involving Princess Charlotte’s bridesmaids dress
“The next day Meg had a text from Kate.
There was a problem with the dresses for the bridesmaids, apparently. They needed altering. The dresses were French couture, hand-sewn from measurements only. So it wasn’t a big shock that they might need altering[…]”
“[…]They set up a time to speak that afternoon. Charlotte’s dress is too big, too long, too baggy. She cried when she tried it on at home, Kate said. Right, and I told you the tailor has been standing by since eight a.m. Here. At KP. Can you take Charlotte to have it altered, as the other moms are doing?