I will say this about the past three weeks of royal melodrama: I enjoy being proven right retroactively. I knew, more than a year ago, that then-Meghan Markle’s entrance into the royal fold was a cataclysmic event (for royalty), and I knew that everything was not sunshine and roses behind-the-scenes. To all of those people who claimed that of course Future King William and Future Queen Kate were of course behaving beautifully and there was no drama… well, I told you so. According to a detailed new article in the Sun, William and Harry were falling out over Meghan as early as late 2016. Some highlights from this Sun story:

Harry will not stand for any criticism of Meghan: As one courtier told me: “It’s my opinion that Harry feels he couldn’t protect his mother, so he’s going all out to protect his wife. This is his way of atoning. He will brook absolutely no criticism of Meghan — and he is so sensitive he often sees criticism or negativity where there isn’t any.”

When Harry first introduced William & Meghan: The first hint of friction came after William was introduced to Meghan, 37, when she was staying at Kensington Palace. Once she’d returned home to Canada, Wills sat Harry down for a chat — meant as brotherly advice. A well-placed source said: “William told his brother they knew nothing about her background, her intentions, what she was really like. He just wanted to stress that becoming part of the Royal Family is a massive undertaking and the pressure and scrutiny is unrelenting. Was Meghan the right one?” The chat did not go down well. “Harry went mental,” said the friend. “He accused his brother of trying to finish his romance before it had begun. The brothers’ relationship has not really recovered.”

The rest of the family had concerns too: The Sun understands other senior members of the family also “had concerns” and voiced them to Harry. As one courtier cautiously volunteered: “A lot of people in the family objected. Who really knows what the concerns were? Was it Meghan’s background? Her father and dreadful half-sister? Because she was an outspoken American? Divorced? Harry stood up for Meghan very forcibly. He really loves her.”

The Middletons didn’t want to invite Meghan to Pippa’s wedding: Meghan also faced some opposition from the Middleton family, who didn’t want to invite her to Pippa’s wedding last May. They feared Meghan’s first public appearance with Prince Harry would overshadow the bride’s big day. Eventually she was asked but chose only to go to the evening do.

Meghan hoped Kate would help her: She hoped that in Kate, another “outsider” who had navigated the choppy waters with aplomb, she would find a natural best friend. A royal source said: “Meghan hoped Kate would show her the ropes. But, equally understandably, Kate was busy. She didn’t have as much time for her as Meghan would have liked. They were at very different places in their lives. Meghan felt quite let down. She had really tried but felt rebuffed, and so just stopped trying.”

Harry was mad on Meghan’s behalf: Harry did not take this lightly and spoke to William about making Meghan feel welcome. William, of course, took his wife’s side — after all, she was following his lead.

When the Queen made Harry the new Commonwealth Youth Ambassador: Wills’ nose was reportedly put out of joint when the Queen gave the plum job to his brother instead of him. Afterwards William had to be cajoled into doing anything for the Commonwealth, say courtiers.

When Thomas Markle made an ass of himself ahead of the wedding: Calm but collected, Meghan decided her team should say nothing publicly and cut him off. However, William — having lost his mum — couldn’t understand ignoring a parent, whatever they’d done. He thought Meghan was making a mistake. Even Charles, who dotes on Meghan, asked a senior member of his staff to intervene. But the policy stands and The Sun understands she has still not spoken to Thomas.

Meghan isn’t afraid of the royals: Meghan is said to be far less intimidated by the royals than might be supposed. At a recent gathering of senior family members, including Meghan, one well-placed aide remarked: “All their IQs put together would not equal hers.”

[From The Sun]

So… Harry was and is passionately in love with Meghan and will defend her ferociously, especially when William is being passive-aggressive and all “hey now, this woman might overshadow me and Kate, we can’t have that.” And WTF business is it of William’s if Meghan cuts off contact with a toxic AF relative? William and Harry’s mother cut people out of her life quite regularly too, even relatives. As for Meghan having a high IQ… granted, I think she’s very bright and she’s a real go-getter, and immensely suited to a public-figure job. But bragging about how she’s smarter than the dull Windsors isn’t that much of a brag. Basically, I think this story is closer to Harry and Meghan’s side – he’s passionate and emotional and crazy in love, and I could see how Harry would be very hurt to not have William’s full support at that moment.

Last thing: the issue with Meghan being invited to Pippa’s wedding is still so f–king stupid. Pippa didn’t have to invite Harry OR Meghan. She ended up inviting them both because the Middletons wanted a star-studded and royalty-studded wedding for Pippa. If Pippa really felt that strongly about Meghan not coming, she should have said so – and if she had, Harry would have simply skipped the wedding. For the Middletons to still be making this into an issue is ridiculous.

Photos courtesy of WENN.