Prince Harry And Prince William's Bizarre Fight Over Facial Hair Explained

If Prince Harry and Prince William weren't on good terms before, then Harry's forthcoming memoir, "Spare," certainty isn't helping things. In addition to touching on the very public grievances that he and wife, Meghan Markle, share with his family (first disclosed in Prince Harry and Meghan's bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview), and revealing that he once worried that Camilla Parker Bowles would be a "wicked stepmother," per Vanity Fair, he's also shared some enlightening bits about William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales.

For instance, Harry claims that his brother and sister-in-law pushed him to wear the Nazi costume to a Halloween party, per E! News. He also gave readers a glimpse into a tense encounter between Meghan, William, Kate, and himself. In the days leading up to their May 2018 wedding, Meghan made an off-hand comment, referencing Kate's "baby brain," after she apparently had forgotten a previous conversation they'd had about bridesmaid dresses. Ultimately, her comment offended Middleton (via Today), leading to Meghan Markle being reprimanded. This, according to Harry, led to a later meetup between the four, which culminated with Meghan telling William to "take your finger out of my face."

Interestingly enough, this wasn't the end of the wedding drama, as Harry's decision to wed while sporting a full beard angered William, leading to a rather tense disagreement.

Prince Harry and Prince William's royal status makes their sibling rivalry seem both heightened and inconsequential. Case in point? Harry claims in his memoir that William ordered that he shave his signature bead prior to marrying Meghan Markle (via Page Six). As the plethora of pictures from Harry and Meghan's wedding proves, he kept his beard. And ahead of the release of "Spare," Prince Harry spoke with Tom Bradby of ITV and expounded on the hairy confrontation. 

"I think a lot of it is to do with — I mean I refer to it as heir/spare but also older brother/younger brother — there's a level of competition there," shared Harry. "And again, writing this, I remembered that William had a beard himself and that granny and other people, the ones to tell — told him that he had to shave it off." He continued: "As I explained to my grandmother, that this beard — that I'm still wearing — felt to me at the time like the new Harry, right, as almost like a shield to my anxiety." In spite of Harry's reasoning, William wasn't pleased. "I think William found it hard that other people told him to shave it off, and yet here I was on my wedding day wearing military uniform, no longer in the military, but believing as though I should shave it off before my wedding day."