Meghan Markle and Princess Kate 'rift' sparked by moment that left Duchess 'taken aback'

When Meghan Markle wed Prince Harry and formally entered the royal fold, there was potential that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would form a "fab four" with the Prince William and Princess Kate.

However, roll on six years and the chasm between the two couples couldn't be larger. Both emotionally and geographically, Prince Harry and Meghan are distant from the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Cracks began to emerge between the couples not long after the sumptuous wedding between the red-headed royal and the hollywood actress.

However, Prince Harry's tell-all memoir Spare suggests that the rift between Kate and Meghan may have been sparked far earlier and now a brand new book claims one factor in particular was to blame.

According to Catherine, The Princess of Wales: The Biography, serialised in the Mail On Sunday, Meghan was "taken aback at the disparity between the brothers."

When Meghan moved in with Harry, the Prince was living in Nottingham Cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace, while William and Kate lived in an apartment in the Palace.

Author of the new book Robert Jobson writes: "Meghan had moved into cosy Nottingham Cottage on the Kensington Palace estate with Harry. When they went to have drinks at William and Catherine's palatial apartment, she was apparently 'taken aback' at the disparity between the brothers."

Mr Jobson writes that it was the material disparity in the living conditions afforded to the two Princes that created friction between Meghan and Kate.

"'I am not saying Meghan was jealous, but she was surprised how lavishly Harry's brother was living compared to where they were living," said a close source. "It was perhaps the beginning of all the tensions between the couples. Meghan understood, of course, that William was in the direct line of succession, but she felt that Harry, as a royal prince, deserved more than he had."

Both Harry and Meghan have spoken about their royal residence in their Netflix documentary in 2022.

In episode four of the riveting series, Meghan branded the cottage "small".

"It sounds very regal but Nottingham Cottage was so small," the actress said before Harry added that it was "lean" with "low ceilings."

Harry continued: "As far as people were concerned we were living in a palace. [But] we were living in a cottage. On palace grounds. Kensington Palace sounds very regal of course, it does say palace in the name. But Nottingham Cottage was small."