EXCLUSIVE: How 'Hormones' Bust-Up at Center of Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton's 'Irreparable' Rift Was 'Way Worse' Than Anyone Thought
The 'hormones' clash that broke Meghan and Kate’s bond was worse than anyone thought.
Oct. 10 2025, Published 11:10 a.m. ET
The long-standing rift between Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton may have kicked off with an offhand remark about hormones that spiraled into a full-scale royal showdown, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
It was an alleged fight insiders now describe as "the moment things became irreparable" between the two women.
The confrontation, which is said to have taken place just weeks before Markle's 2018 wedding to Prince Harry, is recounted in detail in royal author Robert Jobson's new book Catherine, The Princess of Wales: The Biography.
The Comment That Sparked a Royal Meltdown
Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton’s feud began over a 'baby brain' comment.
At the time, Kate, now 43, had recently given birth to her third child, Prince Louis, while Meghan, now 44, was preparing for the most publicized royal wedding in decades.
According to Prince Harry's memoir Spare, the row erupted when Markle told Kate she might be suffering from "baby brain" after the new mother forgot something trivial during a conversation. Kate, reportedly still physically and emotionally raw from childbirth, was said to have taken deep offense.
"You talked about my hormones," she told Markle, according to Spare. "We are not close enough for you to talk about my hormones."
Jobson's book claims the exchange quickly escalated way beyond what Harry has stated, with Prince William stepping in to defend his wife.
And a palace source told us: "William thought Meghan had crossed a line. He felt she was being disrespectful to Kate at a vulnerable time. He wanted to make it clear that certain things just aren’t said in royal circles."
William Steps In
Prince William defended Kate and accused Meghan of being rude.
Jobson writes that Markle, already under intense scrutiny as she adjusted to royal life, was left shaken by William's reaction. When he confronted her more directly, she allegedly snapped back with a terse retort of: "Take your finger out of my face."
Jobson describes the scene as a "flashpoint that exposed the very different temperaments within the so-called 'Fab Four' – William the protective brother to Harry, Kate the peacemaker and Meghan the outsider who refused to be spoken down to."
Though Kate later attempted to smooth things over by sending flowers to Meghan – a gesture the Duchess of Sussex reportedly accepted – the relationship never fully recovered.
"The tension lingered long after that moment," a source said. "It was one of those incidents that everyone pretended to move past, but no one really did."
A Clash of Cultures and Boundaries
The tension grew worse during a dispute about Princess Charlotte’s bridesmaid dress.
The "baby brain" row became one of several flashpoints in what royal observers have described as a cultural and personality clash between the Waleses and Sussexes.
The incident followed another dispute over Princess Charlotte's bridesmaid dress ahead of the Sussexes' wedding, which both sides later addressed publicly.
Harry wrote in Spare press reports of Markle making Middleton cry were false, insisting "the reverse had happened."
Jobson argues the hormones comment marked a deeper divide that went beyond personality differences. "It was about boundaries, hierarchy, and the very different worlds they came from," he writes.
"Kate had been raised within the constraints of royal life. Meghan, by contrast, came from a background where directness was seen as honesty. In the palace, it was seen as confrontation."
Fallout That Shaped the Future
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The hormones comment brought more mistrust between the Sussexes and Waleses.
Those close to the family say the rift between the Waleses and the Sussexes widened after that moment. "From then on, there was no real trust," another insider said. "William saw Meghan as a destabilizing influence, while Meghan felt she was being unfairly targeted."
Harry himself described the tension as part of a broader pattern of estrangement that led to the couple's departure from royal life in 2020. In Spare, he wrote the incident over "baby brain" symbolized "how small misunderstandings could turn into something bigger when filtered through the lens of the institution."
As William and Kate continue to prepare for their future roles as King and Queen, the Sussexes remain in California – raising their two children, Archie, 6, and Lilibet, 4, continents apart, both literally and emotionally, from the family they are estranged from in Britain.
