Britain's Prince Harry, his fiancee Meghan Markle, Prince William and Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, arrive at the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey in London
Reuters

KEY POINTS

  • Prince Harry recalled his first "fab four" public outing with Meghan Markle, Prince William and Kate Middleton
  • He claimed Middleton was "on edge" because she was "going to be compared" and "forced to compete" with Markle
  • Harry claimed Middleton "reluctantly" let Markle borrow her lip gloss when his wife forgot hers

Prince Harry has detailed an "awkward moment" between his wife, Meghan Markle, and his sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, in his forthcoming memoir, "Spare."

The Duke of Sussex claimed that the incident reportedly happened before the 2018 Royal Foundation Forum, when Prince Harry, Markle, Prince William and Middleton made their first "fab four" public outing.

Prince Harry alleged that several moments before the event began, the former actress asked to borrow Middleton's lip gloss — which he called an "American thing" — when she forgot hers.

"Kate, taken aback, went into her handbag and reluctantly pulled out a small tube," Prince Harry wrote, Page Six reported. "Meg squeezed some onto her finger and applied it to her lips. Kate grimaced."

The outlet suggested that the product the Princess of Wales may have shared with the Duchess of Sussex was her tube of Clarins Natural Lip Perfector, which Middleton was seen swiping on at Wimbledon in 2019.

Prince Harry wrote in his book that all four of them "should've been able to laugh about" the moment. However, the press "sensed" it was "something bigger."

He went on to claim that the future queen consort was probably "on edge" because she was "going to be compared to, and forced to compete with, Meg."

In his book, Prince Harry admitted that he had been looking forward to creating a "fab four" even before he met his wife and had discussed it with his older brother.

"I also said I couldn't wait for them to meet her, that I looked forward to the four of us spending lots of time together," he added.

The Duke of Sussex said it was his "dream" to join his brother and sister-in-law with an "equal partner" of his own.

But when he shared his hopes "to become a foursome," Prince William allegedly told him to "slow down" when he started dating the former "Suits" star.

"She's an American actress after all, Harold. Anything might happen," Prince William allegedly told Harry, according to the memoir.

Buckingham Palace said in a statement to Page Six that it would not be commenting on any claims made in Prince Harry's book.

Vanity Fair royal correspondent and editor Katie Nicholl previously claimed that Prince William was having a hard time coming to terms with his younger brother's actions and couldn't completely forgive Prince Harry for abandoning his royal duties.

"[When Harry stepped back from his royal duties], it was very difficult for William, and I think that's partly why this rift hasn't been resolved, because, you know, William can't completely forgive Harry for what he's done," Nicholl told Us Weekly when she promoted her new book on the British royal family, "The New Royals: Queen Elizabeth's Legacy and the Future of the Crown," last year.

She added, "I think William had always expected that he would have the support of his brother. And I think it wasn't just that Harry had chosen to leave and to stand down. I think a lot of it was how he chose to do that and what William saw as [a] great disrespect to the institution and to his, to his family, to his grandmother."

"Spare" will hit shelves Tuesday.

Harry and Meghan, and William and Kate, were on frosty terms at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in September
AFP