There have long been whispers and rumours of a royal rift between Wills and Kate and Harry and Megs.
And we’ve refused to believe it.
But Kensington Palace has just confirmed the foursome are parting ways from their joint charity The Royal Foundation.
Sidenote: Meghan Markle was the most Googled person of 2018. Post continues after video.
You might remember when, just over a year ago, the two couples were labelled the “Fab Four” after they sat on a stage in London and launched their mental health charity Heads Together as part of the Foundation.
Now, after a meeting between Harry and William on Wednesday, a Kensington Palace press release reads: “Later this year The Royal Foundation will become the principal charitable and philanthropic vehicle for The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will establish their own new charitable foundation.”
Uh-huh. Okay, so it makes sense that the charity the Princes started a decade ago might have lost its pizzazz. It also makes sense that perhaps now as married dads with families and much more separate lives, their interests may be different.
BUT EXCUSE US that will not stop the theories. Because rumours of a “royal rift” have been circulating for months, and this latest official confirmation that indeed, the brothers are splitting up in at least some form, has spun those rumours into the stratosphere.
So for the purpose of pure gossip and/or entertainment, we present said theories.
Kate and Megs…hate each other.
So all of these ‘whispers’ started in November when The Telegraph reported that Meghan had made Kate cry over an argument to do with bridesmaid’s dresses for Charlotte.
Apparently it’s the reason Meghan and Harry moved out of London’s Kensington Palace where Kate and Wills live, and instead took up residence at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor.
The women are both very different, the tabloids insist. Kate is reserved and quiet while former actress Meghan is loud, proud and ambitious.
And OF COURSE that means they must hate each other.
But Royal expert Leslie Carroll thinks it's not all sensationalised news, “I’m afraid there is [some] truth in these stories," she told Fox News.
"I don’t think it’s so much of a rivalry as much as these are two very different women that just don’t have to be the best of friends," she explained.
Maybe Wills did a very bad thing... so now Harry hates him.
This theory makes our minds boggle a little bit, but it just won't go away.
It's what you get when you read between the lines of all those column inches dedicated to Kate's rift with a family friend, Rose Hanbury, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley.
Rose lives close to the Cambridges' country estate and runs in the same social circles, and The Sun - and subsequently a thousand other publications - reported that Kate had asked her husband to have Rose "phased out" of their life over a falling out.
American tabloids have decided that said falling out was about William. Enough said. Let's move along. Our brains hurt.
Meghan is apparently just... not fitting in.
So poor Meghan can't catch a break. Not only is she apparently fighting with Kate, she's fighting with the entire Palace.
Palace sources told The Sunday Times she had "changed Prince Harry for the worst."
A senior member of the royal family has apparently given her the nickname "the degree wife" because the family only expect her to stay married to the Duke of Sussex for three years. Oh my God, the royals have the best nicknames.
Express.co.uk reported that she'd been called "Duchess Difficult" and "Hurricane Meghan" by other 'insider sources.'
That's all well and ridiculous, but there's also the fact that there's been four staff resignations in under a year.
Meghan's personal assistant Melissa Touabti quit after just six months after being "reduced to tears" according to The Sun, and the couple's top aide resigned after 17 years of working for the royal family.
In January Meghan's bodyguard left, and in March her secretary gave her notice.
But who knows, IT MIGHT JUST BE A COINCIDENCE THAT THEY ALL LEFT OKAY.
Harry and Wills haven't seen each other privately for... months.
Apparently things are so tense the brothers haven't seen each other for more than six months, except for at public appearances.
"I was told after the royal wedding, Harry and Meghan didn't see Kate and William personally," said Emily Andrews, the royal correspondent for The Sun.
People reported that the tensions started when Harry announced he wanted to marry Meghan after dating less than a year.
William is said to have cautioned him telling his younger brother he was maybe moving to fast.
A source also apparently told People that the brothers wanted their children to know each other, so they will "work harder on their relationship" now Archie has been born.
Who. bloody. knows.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Which brings us to the only rock-solid clue.
The only REAL evidence we have that Harry, William, Megs and Kate might not like each other is the fact they're no longer going to be working together on The Royal Foundation.
Apparently the decision was made after a review of the foundation's structure.
"The changes are designed to best complement the work and responsibilities of Their Royal Highnesses as they prepare for their future roles and to better align their charitable activity with their new households," it reads.
Princes Harry and William set up the foundation a decade ago to focus on charitable causes close to them. It helped them launch the Invictus Games for injured servicemen and women and the mental health initiative Heads Together.
Heads Together is now the only thing all four of the royals will work on as a group.
Now that all sounds very legit, but just last year they held their first Royal Foundation Forum which all four royals attended. It was supposed to be the first of many.
12 months on, and turns out it was a one-off event.
I mean, it's a little fishy.
But just a little.
What do you think about the rumours and whispers being splashed around about the royal family? Let us know in the comments below.
Top Comments
Oh for crying out loud. They are separating in to two different charities, because their lives are starting to take different paths. William is on his way to becoming King, Harry is beginning to step back slightly. They have their own families now, of course they won’t be in each other’s pockets as much as they were. And stop pretending you aren’t perpetuating these silly rumours just as much as the tabloids.
Too many rumours, stories and leaks to the press from royal courtiers, for there not to be some truth about a rift between the couples. When Prince Andrew married Fergie, they did not set up a 'separate court' or charities, nor set out to be a power couple like Harry and Meghan.
I'm inclined to think it's more a strategic move to distance and insulate William and Kate from the direction Harry and Meghan are taking. It's bad enough that the latter are courting celebrity and merching - but it would be an unmitigated disaster if the future King and his wife were associated with it. The UK and the Commonwealth would hardly be supportive of the future monarch focussing on America as much as the Sussexes are.