No family is perfect, and the royals are certainly no exception. Despite projecting a polished image, the royal family has dealt with feuds and fallouts behind the scenes, including the sad deterioration of brothers Prince William and Prince Harry's relationship, along with reported tensions between sisters-in-law Princess Catherine and Meghan Markle. The royal drama in recent years has felt worthy of a revival of The Crown, or even a season of Ryan Murphy's Feud.
While the headlines might make for entertaining television and captivating reading, at the end of the day, they involve a real family navigating relationships in the public eye. From siblings to in-laws, HELLO! is taking a look at royal family members who have found themselves at odds.
Prince William and Prince Harry
© Kirsty O'Connor - WPA Pool/Getty ImagesOne particularly strained relationship is that of Prince William and Prince Harry. Though close growing up, more than a sea now separates Diana's two boys. The brothers had each other to lean on after the death of their mother. In 2017, William admitted: "We have been brought closer because of the circumstances". During the same conversation, Catherine remarked to her husband and brother-in-law: "You're amazingly close," to which William quipped, "Most of the time," prompting laughs from both him and Harry.
Sadly that is no longer the case. The Duke of Sussex shared in his memoir Spare that he told his brother that he felt as though their late mother helped him find Meghan. "Well, now, Harold, I'm not sure about that. I wouldn't say THAT!" William reportedly reacted. Russell Myers wrote in his book William & Catherine: The Intimate Inside Story that Harry "did not like having his feelings challenged" and that his sibling's "inference that his feelings were not valid did not settle well" with him. A palace source close to the brothers told Russell "this period did indeed mark an outward shift in their relations."
The Duke of Sussex, who wed Meghan in 2018, addressed a rumored rift between him and William in 2019, telling Tom Bradby that they were "on different paths at the moment," though he noted at the time: "I will always be there for him as I know he will always be there for me. We don't see each other as much as we used to because we are so busy but I love him dearly."
Earlier that year, Harry and Meghan split royal households from Prince William and Catherine. The Prince of Wales reportedly initiated the split. In the updated edition of the book Battle of Brothers, author Robert Lacey claimed that William and Harry had a "fierce and bitter" showdown over complaints that the Duchess of Sussex had bullied royal household staff. William, who is said to have been "horrified" by what he heard about his sister-in-law's alleged behavior, "threw Harry out," a friend told Robert.
Less than a year after Harry and Meghan officially stepped back from royal duties, the Duke of Sussex spoke about his and William's relationship, revealing to Oprah Winfrey that there was "space at the moment." "I love William to bits. He's my brother," Harry said. "We've been through hell together. I mean, we have a shared experience. But we, you know, we're on different paths."
During the sit-down, the Duke also stated that his father and brother "are trapped" within the system. Per Russell, William was "most aggrieved" by his younger brother's assertion.
William was described as "absolutely seething" after the Sussexes' interview with Oprah. Russell wrote in William & Catherine: The Intimate Inside Story that the heir to the throne "felt betrayed by Harry to the extent that he vowed never to speak to him again. Such was his anger that he told one of his most trusted aides that he had 'absolutely no time to entertain either of them [Harry and Meghan].'"
The Prince did publicly react after the bombshell interview in 2021, declaring that the royal family was "very much not a racist family," and shared that he had not yet spoken to his brother, but planned to.
In his 2023 memoir Spare, Harry called his "beloved brother" his "arch nemesis." The Duke also recalled in the book his brother allegedly "attacking" him at Nottingham Cottage, while Meghan was out of town. Harry revealed that William described Meghan as "difficult," "rude" and "abrasive" during their meeting. At one point, Harry penned that William "came at" him.
"It all happened so fast. So very fast. He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. I landed on the dogs' 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," the Duke recounted.
During a 2026 episode of HELLO!'s A Right Royal Podcast, Russell remarked that Harry and William's relationship "couldn't be worse". "Everything I'm told about that relationship is that it couldn't be worse," Russell told our hosts, adding that "it's done". That said, Russell also noted: "Maybe there is a time in the future."
The Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Sussex
© Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images"Wonderful" and "amazing" were words Meghan and Harry used to describe Catherine in their 2017 engagement interview. But before the Sussexes' royal wedding, tears were reportedly shed. It was later reported that Catherine was in tears after a fitting for Princess Charlotte's bridesmaid dress. However, during her sit-down with Oprah, Meghan claimed that "the reverse" actually happened.
"A few days before the wedding, [Catherine] was upset about something. Yes, the issue was correct, about flower girl dresses and it made me cry and it really hurt my feelings," Meghan said. "I thought in the context of everything else that was going on in those days leading to the wedding that it didn't make sense to not be just doing what everyone else was doing, which was trying to be supportive, knowing what was going on with my dad and what not."
"It wasn't a confrontation, and I don't think it's fair to (Kate) to get into the details of that because she apologized and I've forgiven her," Meghan said. "What was hard to get over was being blamed for something not only I didn't do but that happened to me and the people who were part of our wedding going to our comms team saying, 'I know this didn't happen.'"
The Duchess shared that her sister-in-law "owned it, and she apologized and she brought me flowers and a note apologizing."
Harry addressed the bridesmaid dress drama in his memoir, revealing that he and Meghan arranged a summit with William and Catherine after the story came out. The Duke wrote, "Kate got things rolling straightaway by acknowledging that these stories in the papers about Meg making her cry were totally false. I know, Meghan, that I was the one who made you cry. I sighed. Excellent start, I thought. Meg appreciated the apology, but wanted to know why the papers had said this, and what was being done to correct them? In other words: Why isn't your office standing up for me? Why haven't they phoned this execrable woman who wrote this story, and demanded a retraction?"
He continued: "Kate, flustered, didn't answer, and Willy chimed in with some very supportive-sounding evasions, but I already knew the truth. No one at the Palace could phone the correspondent, because that would invite the inevitable retort: Well, if the story's wrong, what's the real story? What did happen between the two duchesses? And that door must never be opened, because it would embarrass the future queen. The monarchy, always, at all costs, had to be protected."
Catherine reportedly felt let down by her sister-in-law after the Sussexes' interview with Oprah. Russell wrote in William & Catherine: The Intimate Inside Story that the Princess of Wales "felt deeply let down over Meghan's disclosure of a private exchange, which sparked claim and counterclaim regarding the fitting of dresses before the Sussexes' 2018 wedding."
"That particular declaration would add further fuel to an already contentious argument over which woman made the other woman cry during a disagreement over Princess Charlotte's flower girl outfit. It compounded, in Catherine's mind, a key difference between her and Meghan, who she no longer believed she could trust."
A palace source close to Catherine told the author, "If you can't trust those you are supposed to be closest to, it's very difficult to have a relationship."
While the Princess of Wales is said to have apologized to Meghan, Harry wrote in his memoir about another occasion when Catherine requested an apology from the Duchess of Sussex because she had hurt her feelings. The Duke penned: "Kate mentioned a phone call in which they'd discussed the timing of wedding rehearsals. Meg said: Oh, yes! I remember: You couldn't remember something, and I said it' not a big deal, it's baby brain. Because you'd just had a baby. It's hormones. Kate's eyes widened: Yes. You talked about my hormones. We're not close enough for you to talk about my hormones!"
But, in the end, it was the Sussexes' alleged treatment of palace staff that has been characterized as a dealbreaker. Russell wrote in his book that "Harry and Meghan's attitude towards palace staff, who she and William cared about, set the couples on an entirely different course."
A source told the author: "They definitely thought the Sussexes' behaviour stemmed from something more than being difficult. The whole atmosphere between them was pretty toxic. Meghan was being bullish, Kate found her abrasive. There was definitely a hope from her side [Catherine's] that William could try and talk to Harry and settle things but that didn't exactly happen… and at the end of the day, she had three young children, who were her focus and if anything she saw the inevitability of the parting of ways, although perhaps not to the extent of what eventually happened."
Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson
© Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty ImagesMeghan and Catherine aren't the first royal sisters-in-law to experience tensions. Sarah Ferguson and Princess Diana were no longer on speaking terms at the time of the late Princess of Wales' death. As it turns out, it was the Princess' shoes that led to her and Sarah's fallout. The former Duchess of York revealed in her 1996 autobiography, My Story: Sarah, the Duchess of York, that she contracted plantar warts (verrucas) from shoes she received from Diana.
"When I lived in Clapham, Diana helped me by giving me all her shoes (and, less happily, her plantar warts) - we wore the same size," Sarah recalled.
According to author Tina Brown, that line proved to be "fatal" and sent Sarah to Siberia "for good". Tina wrote in the 2007 biography The Diana Chronicles: "The divorced Duchess had cashed in with an anodyne memoir, which was full of nice comments about her sister-in-law - except for one fatal line. She wrote that when she borrowed a pair of Diana's shoes she had caught a verruca from them. Goddesses don't get warts."
"Sadly, at the end we hadn't spoken for a year, though I never knew the reason, except that once Diana got something in her head, it stuck there for a while."
"Despite Fergie's pleading apologies, Diana never spoke to her again."
Sarah acknowledged in her 2011 autobiography, Finding Sarah: A Duchess's Journey to Find Herself, that it was "true," her and Diana's "friendship was periodically strained".
"Sadly, at the end we hadn't spoken for a year, though I never knew the reason, except that once Diana got something in her head, it stuck there for a while," Sarah penned in her 2011 book. "I wrote letters, thinking whatever happened didn't matter, let's sort it out. And I knew she'd come back. In fact, the day before she died she rang a friend of mine and said, 'Where's that Red? I want to talk to her.'"
"In any sibling relationship, there are ups and downs and peaks and troughs, but we were always steadfast in our friendship. We never let the sun go down on too many heated discussions. Our bond was never broken."
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and King Charles
© Indigo/Getty ImagesSimilar to his nephew Harry, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was born the spare to his older brother, King Charles. "They were never close, because Charles was studious and Andrew is not. Their interests are so different," Ingrid Seward, the editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, previously told HELLO!.
According to a U.S. intelligence document, Andrew has a "long-standing 'hatred' of his brother, Charles, who he sees as weak." The document also reportedly states that Andrew "detested the attention and adulation Charles received as the future king, feeling he was best suited for the role and superior, in general, to the then Prince of Wales."
Royal biographers believe the relationship between Queen Elizabeth's first and second son is irreparable. "I don't think we'll see Andrew at Charles's funeral," Andrew Lownie, the author of Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, previously told HELLO!.
In 2025, the King stripped his brother of his titles, and Andrew was served a formal notice to surrender the lease to his home, Royal Lodge. Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice's father moved from Royal Lodge to his temporary home Wood Farm on the Sandringham Estate in February 2026, before eventually moving into Marsh Farm after Easter. Andrew Lownie wrote in an updated edition of Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York: "King Charles had finally tired of seeing his recalcitrant younger brother waving cheerily on horseback to bystanders in Windsor Great Park."
His Majesty spent time at Sandringham in May, but HELLO! understood at the time that the monarch would not be paying a visit to his brother. When Andrew was arrested in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office, the King said that "the law must take its course."
An associate of Andrew's previously told HELLO! that people are correct to assume that the brothers' relationship is at an all-time low. "You don't have to be a rocket scientist to work that out," the source said. "A lot of people got badly hurt by a person whom [Andrew] should never have associated himself with, under any circumstances. That is one part of this. The other part is how and what has happened [between Andrew and the King]. Would you treat your brother like this in the circumstances? They are people, just like us."
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