Meghan, Kate 'Crying' Allegations: What The Royal Biographers Agree On

Since a British newspaper broke the story that Meghan Markle had made Kate Middleton cry during an interaction before the royal wedding in 2018, there has been social media speculation, press commentary and even a royal rebuttal over the contentious incident.

Whether Meghan made Kate cry or Kate made Meghan cry has been analyzed for its significance as the moment Meghan herself said "everything changed."

In a recently released biography titled Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the war between the Windsors, author Tom Bower has reopened the debate over what really happened as he contradicts Meghan's own account, given in an interview last year with Oprah Winfrey.

Despite the polarizing nature of the incident, royal biographers have seemingly agreed on one thing: that disregarding who made who cry, both royal women were under an inordinate amount of pressure at the time of the 2018 royal wedding; Kate having just given birth to her third child, and Meghan making the transition from TV star to a duchess while dealing with strained relations with her father.

Here, Newsweek looks at how key royal biographies have analyzed the crying saga and what they agree on.

Finding Freedom

One of the first substantial biographies to reference the crying incident was Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand's work titled Finding Freedom. The book's publication in August 2020 generated considerable interest as it came after the Sussexes stepped down from their roles as working royals and moved to the United States.

Speculation as to whether Meghan and Harry had any involvement with the book was later confirmed in 2021 when documents supplied in a court case between Meghan and The Mail on Sunday showed that the couple had indirectly contributed to the book through authorizing aide Jason Knauf to speak to Scobie on their behalf.

On the crying saga, Scobie and Durand said in their book that a source who was at the bridesmaid fittings found the reports first published by The Telegraph and The Sun in November 2018 that Meghan had made Kate cry "puzzling" and that there were "no tears from anyone."

The authors added: "several aides across the royal household now confirm to the authors of this book that there was no fitting that left the Duchess of Cambridge in tears."

An updated version of the book cites Meghan's rebuttal to Oprah Winfrey that Kate had, in fact, made her cry and had apologized, adding:

"The bridesmaids dress scandal remains a dispute with those close to the Duchess of Cambridge, maintaining Meghan made her cry. What is true is that it was a stressful time for both women."

Battle of Brothers

In the updated version of his October 2020 biography Battle of Brothers: William and Harry – The Inside Story of a Family in Tumult analyzing the relationship between Harry and brother Prince William, Robert Lacey explores what could have triggered the dispute between Meghan and Kate.

"All we know about the substance of the argument," he wrote was Meghan's account that an incident, stating it occurred over bridesmaid dresses and that she had cried resulting in an apology from Kate.

"Some said the quarrel was over whether or not the little girls should wear tights, with Meghan suggesting that the girls should go bare legged—and if that was the case, photographs of the big day suggest Meghan got her way."

The Palace Papers

In her book The Palace Papers: Inside the house of Windsor the Truth and the Turmoil, former editor of Vanity Fair Tina Brown also lists tights as being a likely cause of the falling out but, like Scobie, agrees that it was a difficult time for both women, with Kate dealing with a newborn baby and Meghan adjusting to royal life.

"It was later reported," she wrote, "that Meghan had insisted that the little girls—including Kate's three-year-old daughter, Princess Charlotte—dispense with tights...this had pushed traditionalist Kate to the brink of a panic attack."

"Another version," she lists, "is that Kate was irritated that the flower girl dresses didn't fit. And the exhausted Duchess of Cambridge, having only recently given birth to Prince Louis, was sick of standing around in the heat being bossed around by the not-quite-yet Duchess of Sussex.

"Who cares? Mainly Meghan it would seem."

Revenge

Tom Bower writes the most substantial account of the crying incident in his new biography, claiming that it was Meghan who made Kate cry and not, as the duchess told Oprah, the other way around.

The author claims that a disagreement occurred between Kate and Meghan over the length of the hem of Princess Charlotte's bridesmaid dress and Meghan's unwillingness to compromise.

"Kate thought it was too short, and anyway did not fit," Bower said.

"Melissa Toubati, Meghan's assistant, and the dress-fitters employed by Givenchy's Clare Waight Keller, witnessed Meghan emphatically reject Kate's observation. Compromise was not a trait Meghan embraced.

"The stand-offs, Kate decided, confirmed the complaints by Toubati and other members of staff about Meghan. Kate burst into tears. [U.K. TV presenter] Kirstie Allsopp, a friend of Camilla [Duchess of Cornwall], would later confirm that Kate was reduced to tears by Meghan bullying her staff."

In the aftermath of the incident, Bower claims that "Kate decided to make amends. She crossed the Kensington Palace corridor and presented Meghan with a bunch of flowers. Kate also told Meghan not to speak rudely to her staff. 'That's unacceptable.'"

"What followed can never be irrefutably established. In Kate's version, Meghan slammed the door in her face and threw the flowers in a dustbin. Meghan would tell Oprah Winfrey that the tears were shed by her, not Kate, and the flowers were an apology. 'I think that's where everything changed,' Meghan rightly said."

Though the biographers agree that the crying incident remains disputed, Meghan's own account to Winfrey is likely to be the only official response to be issued, given that thus far, Kensington Palace has made no official response on behalf of Kate and is unlikely to do so.

Since the interview with Winfrey, Meghan has not spoken publicly about the incident.

Newsweek reached out to representatives for Meghan Markle and Kensington Palace for comment.