Meghan Markle Resented Being a ‘Second-Rate Princess’ to Kate Middleton After Marrying Prince Harry

Meghan Markle’s introduction to royal life wasn’t what she expected, as a new report revealed she soon realized she would always come second to Kate Middleton.

Similar to how Prince Harry resented being the “spare” to his older brother, Prince William, royal biographer Tom Quinn writes in his new book Gilded Youth that the Suits actress, 44, reportedly hated feeling like a “second-rate princess" to the future queen, 43.

Although Meghan reportedly anticipated “the glamour” of being a princess after marrying Harry, 41, in 2018, she soon found out the royal family would dictate her every move.

“Never in royal history had someone’s expectations clashed so dramatically with reality,” Quinn wrote. “Meghan, who came from a world where she was used to making her own choices, suddenly found herself in a rigid institution that told her where to go, what to say and even what to wear.”

Meghan and Harry stepped away from their roles in the royal family and moved to California in 2020. The decision had many consequences, including estrangement from Harry’s relatives and the removal of their automatic right to U.K. police security.

The Spare author later challenged the security team's removal during a December 2023 hearing, telling the committee he felt “forced to step back” from the royal family due to safety concerns.

“It was with great sadness for both of us that my wife and I felt forced to step back from this role and leave the country in 2020,” Harry said via a statement read by barrister Shaheed Fatima KC. “The U.K. is my home. The U.K. is central to the heritage of my children and a place I want them to feel at home as much as where they live at the moment in the U.S. That cannot happen if it’s not possible to keep them safe when they are on U.K. soil.”

The father-of-two continued, “I cannot put my wife in danger like that and, given my experiences in life, I am reluctant to unnecessarily put myself in harm’s way too.”

The former head of counterterrorism for the Metropolitan Police, Neil Basu, confirmed in 2022 that Meghan faced genuine threats against her life while she lived in the U.K.

“We had teams investigating it. People have been prosecuted for those threats,” Basu said in an interview with Channel 4 News. “If you’d seen the stuff that was written and you were receiving it … the kind of rhetoric that’s online, if you don’t know what I know, you would feel under threat all of the time.”

Harry remains estranged from William, however, he recently reunited with his father, King Charles, earlier this month for the first time in over 18 months. William was reportedly “stunned” about the meeting and “would have tried to block” the gathering if he had known about it beforehand, a source claimed.