Royal Feuds That Made Us All Uncomfortable

According to Prince Harry, based on interviews following the release of his memoir, "Spare," the greatest enemy to the royal family is the British media. He spoke with Anderson Cooper on "60 Minutes" and held the British press responsible, in part, for the death of his mother, for exacerbating claims of racism towards the royal family, and for Harry's ongoing feud with his family. Nearing the end of the interview, as a grand finale of sorts, Harry said, "So, ultimately without the British press as part of this, we would probably still be a fairly dysfunctional family like a lot are. But at the heart of it, there is a family without question."

Well, there may be a family at the heart of it, but they're pretty upset now. Allegedly, King Charles III is hoping for reconciliation, especially ahead of his coronation, but Prince William isn't ready for that yet. However, the British press aren't the only antagonist of the royal family, nor is Harry's press tour the first time that tension and feuds within the family have been showcased. Au contraire. There's a long line of good old-fashioned family feuds that are nothing special when one considers any family's tension, but conversely seem extra spicy when we remember that it's the royal family in question. Harry may have aired some dirty laundry, but he is by no means the first royal to get tangled in an argument with a relative. In fact, the list feels endless. 

In terms of OG feuds between sister-in-laws, it doesn't get sassier than the one that lasted for decades between the Queen Mother and Wallis Simpson. The Queen Mother, wife of King George VI and mother to the late Queen Elizabeth II, blamed Simpson for her family's unexpected role in the monarchy. George VI was the younger brother of Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne to marry the divorced Simpson, thus forcing the crown upon her husband, and later, her daughter. 

In the documentary "The Royal Wives of Windsor," Piers Brendon explained that the Queen Mother allegedly stopped Simpson from getting her HRH title after she married Edward in a form of revenge only the royals can administer. "It was denied largely because Queen Elizabeth blamed Wallis Simpson for her husband's trauma that he suffered having to be King," Brendon said. "When he had not been prepared for it and when he wasn't well equipped to be King." He added, "Elizabeth carried a long vendetta against the Windsors as a result of that."

Simpson wasn't exactly a fan of hers either. Michael Thornton, who knew both Simpson and the former Queen Consort, told the Daily Mail that the Queen Mother once walked in on Simpson doing an impression of her that hurt her feelings. From then on, Simpson became her "implacable enemy." So it certainly wasn't an affable relationship between those sister-in-laws!

Among the most salacious of royal contemporary feuds is the ongoing one between Princes William and Harry. Allegedly, things took a turn in November 2018, when Harry and Meghan Markle decided to move away from Kensington Palace and take up residency at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor. "The initial plan was for Harry and Meghan to move out of their cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace and into one of the main apartments," an insider explained to The Sun. "But there has been a bit of tension between the brothers."

Things escalated from there. In August 2019,  it was reported that William was concerned after Harry and Meghan's engagement, believing that everything was happening too quickly. Emily Andrews, a correspondent for The Sun, claimed that Harry became very upset with William. "I was told by a number of sources that he went ballistic," Andrews claimed, per Express. "He said, 'you're trying to wreck this relationship before it's even started.'"

Media at this time was speculating that the feud had to do with the two women, and that Meghan and Catherine, Princess of Wales, were the ones fighting. Instead, it was the brothers. "It's actually that William and Harry have had a rift," filmmaker Nick Bullen told Fox News in 2019. Then, of course, Harry's book "Spare" doesn't hold back in discussing the big brawl, where William grabbed Harry and knocked him over onto the dog bowl. Things are not looking good between the brothers.

While the media was focused on a feud between Catherine, Princess of Wales, and Meghan Markle, it missed early arguments between Princes William and Harry. But that's not to say that there wasn't a feud between the two women. It all began in 2018 with the dress that daughter Charlotte was going to be wearing on Meghan's wedding day. The story first broke that Meghan made Catherine cry because of a disagreement over the dresses. Then, during Harry and Meghan's sit-down with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan explained that Kate made her cry. "It was a really hard week of the wedding, and she was upset about something, but she owned it and she apologized and she brought me flowers and a note apologizing," Meghan said of her sister-in-law.

Then, thanks to Harry's "Spare," we found out much more. "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," Harry wrote. Rising tension was exacerbated when Meghan told Catherine that she had "baby brain" and that this was affecting her hormones. This caused a deepening in the rift between the two women, as Catherine felt that Meghan wasn't close enough to her to talk about her hormones. William and Catherine allegedly scolded Meghan for the comment, which made Meghan feel hurt, and things weren't sorted out between them.

Meghan Markle was tangled up in yet another feud, this one with her half-sister, Samantha Markle. The sisters have allegedly not seen each other in years, so it wasn't like they were very close to begin with, but Samantha felt very wronged by Meghan's behavior once she became the Duchess of Sussex. In a scathing op-ed for The Sun in January 2020, after Prince Harry and Meghan stepped down as senior royals, Samantha claimed that Meghan had done damage to the royal family. "Meghan knew the social requirements of joining the Royal Family," Samantha wrote. "She should have asked herself if she was willing and able to behave in accordance with the expectations."

Samantha also claimed that Meghan's behavior hurt their father, Thomas Markle. "She watched the media taunt and torture my dad, never springing to his defense like a true humanitarian would," she added.

But Samantha was also hurt by Harry. In 2017, Harry gave an interview with BBC radio 4 after Meghan spent Christmas with the royal family. "She's done an amazing job, you know it's the family I suppose she's never had," he said (via the Daily Mail). Samantha felt very hurt by that, pointing out that Meghan had a family before she met Harry. "Then we questioned why... why would she be embarrassed about her family, why would you need to set the stage differently," Samantha said. "It was starting to feel like she wasn't reaching out to the family."

Thomas Markle felt like he was badly treated by the press once Meghan Markle entered the spotlight for her relationship with Prince Harry. "They'd take pictures of my hand grabbing a beer," he explained in a "Good Morning Britain" interview, per E! News. "They'd take pictures of me getting in my car, taking the garbage out. They'd take pictures of me buying a toilet and making a big deal out of it. They'd take all kinds of pictures of me, making me look negative."

There was, of course, that infamous event of staged photographs that Thomas participated in prior to Meghan's wedding in 2018. The goal was twofold: Thomas would spruce up his image in the eye of the public and he'd make 30% off the sales for the photos. Unfortunately, this completely backfired and looked worse. As Thomas continued to accept paid interviews, his relationship with Meghan and Harry became more and more tense, until it was virtually nonexistent.

So, Thomas blames not only Meghan and Harry, but the entire royal family for his situation. "I'm going to defend myself and I'm going to be paid for it," he said, per Page Six. "I don't care. At this point, they owe me. The Royals owe me. Harry owes me, Meghan owes me. What I've been through I should be rewarded for." So that's that! 

Things haven't always been easy between Camilla, Queen Consort, and Catherine, Princess of Wales. Camilla had such a rocky time when she entered the royal family, and frankly, it's pretty obvious why. She was the third wheel in the marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and after Diana's death, the public wasn't ready to see Charles with someone new — especially not someone he had been with during his marriage.

Things were completely different for Catherine and Prince William. They were college sweethearts and presented a fresh version of royal romance, without any loose ends from the past or complications. Despite the obvious differences, Camilla was allegedly jealous of Catherine's acceptance by not only the royal family but by the general public. "The truth is, the very sight of Kate made Camilla burn with jealousy from the beginning," a source told OK! Magazine. Camilla was also disdainful, allegedly, of Catherine's middle class heritage and lack of royal pedigree.

There's even a story that when the two women went out for lunch in London in 2011. Camilla tricked Catherine into ordering the foie gras, a controversial meal made of goose or duck liver while the animal is often force-fed. Catherine was heavily scrutinized by the press for her lunch choice. However, as time has gone on, it seems that Camilla and Catherine have grown closer. According to some publications, King Charles III and Camilla have grown especially close with Catherine following Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's departure.

Charles Spencer, brother of the late Princess Diana, is no fan of the royal family and was not in the least bit shy to speak his mind about it. At her eulogy in Westminster Abbey in 1997, Spencer took aim at the royals by pledging to protect Princes William and Harry. "On behalf of your mother and sisters, I pledge that we, your blood family, will do all we can to continue the imaginative way in which you were steering these two exceptional young men so that their souls are not simply immersed by duty and tradition but can sing openly as you planned," he said, per the BBC. Queen Elizabeth II and several other members of the royal family did not clap at the end of Spencer's eulogy, in reaction to his digs at duty and the demands of royal life.

Five years later, in an interview, Spencer claimed that he wasn't able to stay as close to his nephews as he wished, per The Guardian. "What I can say is that they may not be encouraged to stay in touch with their mother's side of the family," he said, offering another dig at the royal family. When St. James' Palace was asked to comment, they declined saying: "We consider that to be a private family matter." He also claimed in another interview with BBC's "Radio 4" that the royal family lied to him and said that William and Harry wanted to walk behind their mother's coffin (via ABC News).

The late Queen Elizabeth II and Camilla, Queen Consort, didn't get along for a long time. Since Camilla was the other woman in Charles and Princess Diana's marriage, the queen felt like Camilla put the stability of the relationship in jeopardy. Royal biographer Christopher Andersen told Newsweek in November 2022, "The queen always detested Camilla. The Queen Mother particularly detested Camilla because she was throwing a wrench in the works. Because of Camilla, the monarchy was kind of brought to the brink of destruction."

Camilla was often iced out of events, even after Diana's death. In 1998, the queen refused to attend Charles' 50th birthday party, because Camilla would be there. Something similar happened a few years later. In 2000, there was a big party at Windsor Castle for the Queen Mother's 100th birthday and Camilla was not invited.

Things started to soften for the late queen, and in 2005, Charles and Camilla got married. "It took eight years for Charles to finally convince everybody to accept Camilla as his wife, to convince the queen to allow him to marry Camilla," Andersen told Newsweek. "He had to jump through all those hoops." At long last, at the Platinum Jubilee in 2022, Queen Elizabeth II said that she approved of Camilla becoming queen. "It is my sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service," she said, getting the stamp of approval at last (via CBS News). 

There's no denying that one of the most heavily publicized royal feuds was between Princess Diana and the then-Prince Charles. They saw each other 13 times before they got engaged, followed by their 1981 wedding, and were married for 15 years, though it was largely an unhappy experience for both. Things started to get rocky even before the wedding. In their engagement interview, when the reporter asked if they were in love, Charles famously replied, "Whatever love means." Diana didn't forget. "That threw me completely," she said, as aired in the documentary "Diana: In Her Own Words." "I thought, 'What a strange answer.' It traumatized me."

Their wedding was equally miserable. Later, in recordings that were used by biographer Andrew Morton, Diana said of her wedding: "I don't think I was happy. I never tried to call it off, in the sense of really doing that, but I think [it was] the worst day of my life."

Another issue was Diana's growing popularity. For Charles, this was threatening and it became a problem between them. "With the media attention came a lot of jealousy," Diana said during the Panorama interview, (via People). "A great deal of complicated situations arose because of that." With the increasing unhappiness between them, they both began affairs. In 1986, Charles picked up with Camilla Parker Bowles while Diana also sought out extra-marital company. At the time, Charles wrote in a letter: "How awful incompatibility is, and how dreadfully destructive it can be." Not a happily ever after.

It'll come as no surprise that there was tension between Princess Diana and the then-Camilla Parker Bowles. Even after Prince Charles and Camilla married different people, they remained intertwined. Charles was the godfather to Tom Parker Bowles, son of Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles in a clear display of their intent to stay tied together for life on any level possible.

Before Diana and Charles' wedding, Diana and Camilla went out for lunch and the two saw each other frequently, likely because Camilla and Charles liked to socialize in the same circles. This all became much clearer to Diana in hindsight. "I couldn't understand why she kept saying to me, 'Don't push him into doing this, don't do that,'" Diana told Andrew Morton, per E! News. "[Camilla] knew so much about what [Charles] was doing privately ... if we were going to stay at Broadlands, I couldn't understand it. Eventually I worked it all out and found the proof of the pudding and people were willing to talk to me."

Diana became increasingly jealous of Camilla and Charles' bond and was made very uncomfortable by it. Diana confronted Camilla about it at a party where Charles and Camilla had wandered off together. Diana's bodyguard, Ken Wharfe, spoke about the moment on Lorraine in August 2022. "Diana just went up to both of them and said to Camilla, 'Look, please don't treat me like an idiot, I know what's going on,'" Wharfe recalled. That's one feud that makes perfect sense.

Things between the late Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Diana were more complicated than other royal feuds. Part of the rift could have been a simple matter of temperament. Elizabeth was famous for her quiet resolve to live a life of duty. Surely, Diana was dutiful in her own way but she was much more Euro-fabulous and prone to giving the odd interview, especially after her marriage to the then-Prince Charles ended. Speaking to the press was something Elizabeth was no great fan of.

After Charles and Diana announced their separation, a lady-in-waiting reported that Diana came to visit the queen and wept for nearly an hour, per People. "The Queen didn't know what to do. She has always hated this kind of emotional confrontation and, frankly, has never had to deal with it before or since," the woman recalled. Diana was hoping that Elizabeth would act as a mediator between her and Charles but the queen was no fan of such meddling.

Nevertheless, Diana was hesitant to ever speak ill against her mother-in-law. "I admire her," Diana told Martin Bashir during her Panorama interview, per E! News. "I long to get inside her mind and talk to her, and I will. I've always said to her: 'I'll never let you down but I cannot say the same for your son.' She took it quite well. She does relax with me." The queen respected Diana too. After Diana died, the monarch said, "I admired and respected her" among a host of other praises.

For the late Queen Elizabeth II and her sister, Princess Margaret, this royal feud began in childhood. (See that, Princes Harry and William? Your sibling rivalry isn't so original after all!) Victoria Arbiter, a royal commentator featured in the documentary "Princess Margaret: Rebel Without A Crown" spoke about their relationship. Elizabeth and Margaret were best friends, without a doubt, but they could also get feisty with each other. "Marion Crawford, their governess, had said they didn't hesitate to argue and fight," Arbiter explained. "Elizabeth apparently had a good left hook whereas Margaret wasn't shy to bite her sister in return."

Their bond was unshakable, but it wasn't without moments of tension, likely prompted also by the fact that they were opposites. Elizabeth was stoic and dutiful, while Margaret was rebellious and headstrong. Andrew Morton, in his book "Elizabeth and Margaret: The Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters," wrote: "The two sisters were contradictory and conflicted, butting heads over matters both small and monumental, but they also loved one another." Morton wrote that the two women were in a constant tug-of-war between affection and jealousy.

There's one point worth clarifying, though. "The Crown" made it seem like Elizabeth flatly refused Margaret's wish to marry the divorced Peter Townsend, but in real life, the monarch actually came up with a plan that would allow Margaret to marry him. However, Margaret didn't want to give up certain royal privileges and so it was her choice in the end.

Princess Margaret and Princess Diana started off close. Both women had a penchant for glamor and didn't have the same stoic love of duty that some other royals, namely Queen Elizabeth II, had. In fact, biographer Andrew Morton told People that Margaret was a huge advocate for Diana within the royal family. "She did say, 'Just give Diana a chance," Morton recalled.

While they both liked the finer things, there was one thing Margaret didn't agree with that younger royals, like Diana, sometimes did: complain and explain. As the sister to the queen, Margaret was a firm believer in protecting the crown and the royal family; as such, any moment that lifted the veil was a problem to her. So when Diana sat down with Martin Bashir in 1995 for the Panorama interview, Margaret turned her back on the young princess completely. Morton told People that Margaret was the queen's most loyal supporter. "She felt Diana let her sister down," Morton went on. "She was the Praetorian guard of her sister."

After the interview, Morton told Town & Country, Margaret wrote Diana a letter where she really let the young princess have it, claiming that Diana was "incapable of making even the smallest sacrifice." Margaret even urged her sister to revoke Diana's HRH title. Morton said that even after Diana died, Margaret's views didn't soften. Diana had, as she saw it, betrayed the queen and there was no forgiveness for that.

Another intense royal feud was between Prince Philip and his daughter-in-law, Sarah Ferguson. Things started out differently. Philip and Queen Elizabeth II were extremely fond of Fergie; the latter knew how to fly a plane (a huge plus for Philip), plus Fergie had a rambunctious, innocent way of comporting herself that was endearing, both to the royal family and the public. Things changed as Fergie and Prince Andrew's marriage went south. In 1992, she was photographed with boyfriend John Bryan in St. Tropez while he was sucking her toes. The scandal — or chuckles — that this directed towards the royal family created a major shift in how Philip perceived his daughter-in-law.

Fergie spoke to biographer Gyles Brandreth who wrote "The Final Portrait" on the life of Philip. Fergie expressed hurt over the fact that Philip wouldn't even stay in the same room as her. "It was ridiculous," she said. "As soon as I came in through one door, he'd be falling over the corgis to get out of the other. It was very funny. Except, of course, it wasn't." The queen didn't cut Fergie out, but Philip remained consistently avoidant of her. When Brandreth asked him why he didn't mend things with Fergie, Philip replied, "I don't see her because I don't see much point." For Princess Eugenie's 2018 wedding, Fergie and Philip were snapped together in the wedding portraits, per Page Six, marking the first time in 26 years that they were photographed together.

Princess Anne and Princess Diana lived through ongoing rumors of a feud. Some of this was exacerbated by Anne's dry relationship with the press, making her less effusive and therefore harder to read. In the HBO documentary "The Princess," there's a tough moment where Anne gets asked about the birth of Prince William. When reporters asked Anne about Diana, the former said, "What about Diana? I don't know, you tell me." When the journalist clarified that the question was in regards to Diana's new son, Anne said, "I didn't know she'd had one." 

When Prince Harry was born, there were reports that Anne was hurt that she wasn't included in the list of godparents for William or Harry, while Prince Andrew was included in the list. In fact, she missed Harry's christening altogether. Conversely, Diana didn't attend Anne's second wedding in 1992 to Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence. The implied reason for Diana's absence was that she and the then-Prince Charles had announced their separation only three days earlier, so it might have been awkward for the family.

Despite these missed events, Diana never confirmed a feud with Anne. In a 1985 interview, Diana squashed ideas of a feud. "None at all," she began, per Express. "Princess Anne has been working incredibly hard for the Save the Children Fund and I'm her biggest fan because what she crams into a day I could never achieve." That certainly sounds like praise.