A sense of unease reportedly permeated the highest levels of the monarchy in the period leading up to a high-profile royal wedding. According to accounts from a late member of the extended royal family, there were significant reservations about how a new member was integrating with her future in-laws.
These concerns, attributed to the late monarch, centered on the dynamic between the Duchess of Sussex and the Prince and Princess of Wales. A cousin of the former sovereign is said to have conveyed the monarch’s worry that the relationships were “not working well,” particularly highlighting friction between the women.
The source further suggested there was apprehension about the suitability of the match, with private doubts expressed about the prince’s strength of character and speculation about the duchess’s true motivations. The narrative painted a picture of a prince described as “besotted and weak,” while questioning whether his fiancée was genuinely in love or had strategically orchestrated the relationship.
These private misgivings stood in contrast to the public image of a unified “Fab Four” presented during joint engagements in early 2018. At one such forum, when probed about disagreements, the Prince of Wales acknowledged their existence with a laugh, while his brother characterized them as “healthy.” The Prince of Wales, however, struck a more ambiguous note, adding, “Is it resolved? We don’t know.”
Tensions, as later recounted in a memoir, appear to have stemmed from cultural clashes and personal misunderstandings from the outset. A simple greeting was described as causing discomfort, with the prince reportedly unaccustomed to physical familiarity with new acquaintances. Another incident involved a comment made to the Princess of Wales about postpartum forgetfulness, which was received as an overfamiliar reference to her hormones and sparked a sharp rebuke. This disagreement allegedly escalated, leading to a heated confrontation between the duchess and the Prince of Wales.
These accumulated strains preceded the couple’s eventual decision to step back from their roles as senior working members of the royal family in 2020, marking a profound shift in the modern monarchy’s structure.
