"Maybe he predicted what the British press's reaction was gonna be," the Duke of Sussex said about his brother.
In an interview with ITV's Tom Bradby that aired on January 8, Prince Harry revealed that Prince William had "aired some concerns," concerning his relationship with Meghan Markle "very early on." The Duke of Sussex was on the show promoting his book Spare when he remembered how The Prince of Wales, 40, and his spouse Kate Middleton reacted to his new relationship with the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle.
"Some of the things that my brother and sister-in-law — some of the way that they were acting or behaving definitely felt to me as though, unfortunately, that stereotyping was causing a bit of a barrier to them really sort of, you know, introducing or welcoming her in," Harry, 38, said of the reactions from the Prince and Princess of Wales.
When Bradby asked Prince Harry if his older brother tried to talk him out of marrying Meghan, Prince Harry denied any such attempt by the Prince of Wales, per PEOPLE. "No, he never tried to dissuade me from marrying Megan, but he aired some concerns, very early on and said, you know, this is gonna be really hard for you," Harry recalled. "And I still to this day, I don't truly understand which part of what he was talking about. But maybe, you know, maybe he predicted what the British press's reaction was gonna be."
Despite William's hesitation, the couple announced their engagement in 2017 after dating for just over a year. But the preparation for the wedding only widened the chasm between the brothers, per PageSix. William rejected the idea of Harry and Markle getting married at Westminster Abbey, where he and Middleton had exchanged vows seven years earlier when it came to deciding on a location. He also objected to the couple picking St. Paul's, the location of Princess Diana and King Charles' 1981 wedding, claiming that it was "too grand" for their wedding.
While there was a conflict between the brothers as a result of the wedding, Middleton and Markle's relationship also deteriorated at the same time as a result of a now-infamous argument about the bridesmaid outfits involving Princess Charlotte's dress.
In an excerpt from Harry's memoir Spare published by The Guardian, Prince Harry asserts that Prince William physically assaulted him in 2019. According to the report, Harry shared that William, was simply "parrot[ing of] the press narrative" about his wife and called her "difficult," "rude" and "abrasive." In the excerpt, Harry writes, "He set down (his glass of) water, called me another name, then came at me. It all happened so fast. So very fast."
He further wrote, describing the scary incident, "He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. I landed on the dog's bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me. I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out."
References:
https://pagesix.com/2023/01/05/prince-william-warned-prince-harry-not-to-propose-to-meghan-markle/
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Paul Grover
