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Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton’s cry-fest over bridesmaid dresses leading up to the Duchess of Sussex’s royal wedding marked the "beginning of the end" for their relationship.
British royal expert Hilary Fordwich made the claim after royal author Tom Quinn revisited the alleged clash in his book "Yes, Ma’am: The Secret Life of Servants." May 19 also marks Markle and Prince Harry's seventh wedding anniversary.
"In isolation, this incident could be construed as either minor or irrelevant, but it became a flashpoint exposing far deeper tensions between Meghan Markle and Princess Catherine," Fordwich told Fox News Digital.
MEGHAN MARKLE’S ‘MESSIAH COMPLEX,’ FREQUENT HUGS SPARKED CLASH WITHIN PALACE BEFORE ROYAL EXIT: BOOK
British royal expert Hilary Fordwich claimed to Fox News Digital that Meghan Markle, left, and Kate Middleton's relationship was never the same after a dispute involving bridesmaid dresses. (Getty Images)
"Now, with the benefit of hindsight, it can be seen as the beginning of the end of their relationship. It was not, as it seemed at the time, the end of the beginning. The dress incident was not isolated. There were already many tensions.
"This private conflict, leaked to the press, became a media firestorm, marking a significant escalation in tensions and, over time, further amplified by the media, compounded and complicated by personal, cultural and institutional differences."
Meghan Markle, right, has not returned to the U.K. since the death and funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
After Markle said "I do" to Harry, reports surfaced that the sisters-in-law disagreed over the tailoring of Princess Charlotte’s bridesmaid dress, which caused Kate to cry. However, in her 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Markle claimed "the reverse happened." She also claimed Kate later apologized for making her shed tears.
"Yes Ma'am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants" is already published in the U.K. It will hit American bookstores in July. (Biteback Publishing)
Quinn claimed a royal staffer gave an account of what really happened behind palace doors.
"You remember all the fuss about Meghan being accused of making Kate cry when they had a dispute about Charlotte’s bridesmaid’s dress?" said the staffer in an excerpt obtained by Fox News Digital.
Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle's husbands, Prince William and Prince Harry, are not on speaking terms. (Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images)
"Well, I can tell you that all the papers and commentators got this wrong – the truth is that, as with many of these spats between sisters, brothers, or even sisters-in-law, both sides were really upset.
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British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard told Fox News Digital that the royal wives never had much in common. (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
"The truth is that during the discussions about the bridesmaid’s dress, Meghan said a few things she regretted, and Kate said a few things she later regretted, but it was all in the heat of the moment."
"Both women were crying their eyes out!" the staffer claimed. "The incident with the bridesmaid’s dress became a kind of marker for all the other problems that Meghan had with Kate and with William and other members of the family."
WATCH: KATE MIDDLETON SUCCESSFULLY NAVIGATED ROYAL LIFE WHILE MEGHAN MARKLE STRUGGLED FOR THIS REASON, AUTHOR SAYS
Fox News Digital reached out to Archewell, which handles the offices of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and Kensington Palace for comment. A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace previously told Fox News Digital,"We don’t comment on such books."
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle married on May 19, 2018 at Windsor Castle. (Getty Images)
The disagreement reportedly centered on how Princess Charlotte’s dress fit for the wedding, resulting in the women exchanging heated words.
Fordwich pointed out that Kate had just given birth to Prince Louis and was described as "quite emotional" at the time. However, when Markle spoke out about the disagreement to Winfrey in an interview viewed by nearly 50 million people globally, it was "the last straw in the eyes of royal courtiers."
Meghan Markle's comments about Kate Middleton, pictured here, were seen as the "last straw," British royals expert Hilary Fordwich claimed. (Max Mumby/Getty Images)
"They are extremely protective of Princess Catherine," said Fordwich. "She has always been very forgiving, but Prince William is adamant regarding there being no further contact with Meghan."
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Kate Middleton and her daughter Princess Charlotte after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding in 2018. (Andrew Matthews - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
"Meghan and Princess Catherine came to blows over bridesmaid dresses," British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard claimed to Fox News Digital.
"If this is their only personal upset, then they are doing pretty well! [But] emotions were running high in the lead-up to the wedding. From what I understand, all the bridesmaid dresses were huge, with very little time to make them good. No one would have wanted the bridesmaids, especially Princess Charlotte, to look like a laughingstock. I’m sure both ladies shared a similar perspective, that they wanted the outfits to fit well."
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back as senior royals in 2020. (Karwai Tang/Getty Images)
"Having said that, Princess Catherine has nothing in common with Meghan," said Chard. "Catherine is standing by her husband and following in the late Queen Elizabeth II’s footsteps – keeping quiet and carrying on."
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle gave a televised interview to Oprah Winfrey that was viewed by nearly 50 million people globally. (Harpo Productions/Joe Pugliese via Getty Images)
During her sit-down with Winfrey, Markle told the media mogul that "it was a really hard week at the wedding" and Kate was "upset about something." However, she later "owned it" and "apologized."
"She brought me flowers and a note apologizing," said Markle. "I think it's — I don't think it's fair to her to get into the details of that because she apologized, and I've forgiven her."
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, is seen being interviewed by Oprah Winfrey in 2021. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
The former American actress said she found it "shocking" that the dispute hit the press several months after the wedding.
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The dispute in question hit the press months after Meghan Markle's wedding. (Getty Images)
"I would have never wanted that to come out about her ever, even though it happened," she said.
The interview, which detailed the couple’s struggles with royal life, highlighted explosive accusations. One of the claims made was that someone in the family questioned the skin color of Markle’s baby before he was born. Harry later clarified that the royal in question was not the late queen or his grandfather, Prince Philip.
Prince Archie was born on May 6, 2019. (Pool/Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images)
Following the tell-all, a statement was released by Buckingham Palace on behalf of the queen that read, "The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan. The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately. Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much-loved family members."
Queen Elizabeth II issued a statement following Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's interview with Oprah Winfrey. England's longest-reigning monarch died in 2022 at age 96. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Harry later wrote about the spat in his 2023 memoir "Spare." In it, he claimed that his sister-in-law texted Markle four days before the wedding that, "Charlotte's dress is too big, too long, too baggy. She cried when she tried it on at home."
Prince Harry wrote about the dispute involving dresses in his memoir "Spare." (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
According to Harry’s book, Markle directed Kate to see the tailor at Kensington Palace, but it was Kate who insisted "all the dresses need to be remade." After a "back and forth" between the women, Harry said he later found Meghan "on the floor, sobbing."
"I was horrified to see her so upset, but didn't think it was a catastrophe," he wrote.
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Meghan Markle, left, and a pregnant Kate Middleton attend the first annual Royal Foundation Forum on Feb. 28, 2018 in London. Prince Louis was born in April of that year. (CHRIS JACKSON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Harry added that the next day, Kate visited with flowers and a card to apologize.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back as senior royals in 2020, citing the unbearable intrusions of the British press and a lack of support from the palace. They moved to California.
Meghan Markle was an American actress before she became the Duchess of Sussex. (Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)
"I hope by now, as they are both adults and mothers too, that they can put all of this behind them," said royal expert Ian Pelham Turner about the wives. "I believe behind the scenes, they tried to do that. Meghan sent Kate a very kind message during her early days of cancer. If anyone can repair the damage… it’s these two ladies."
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex detailed their struggles with royal life in the Netflix docuseries "Harry & Meghan," which premiered in late 2022. It is still available for streaming. (Netflix)
In March of this year, Quinn claimed to Fox News Digital that the Duchess of Sussex’s frequent hugging had become a problem among the royal family. The over-familiarity was considered "rude" by staff, who claimed Kate, as well as William and King Charles III, would "flinch" when Meghan moved in for an embrace.
"Tension developed between William and Harry as a result of Meghan’s warm, friendly, hug-everyone approach," Quinn wrote.
Kate Middleton's husband, Prince William, is heir to the British throne. (Getty Images)
"It made William uncomfortable because she hugged him virtually every time they bumped into each other; the hugging and cheek kissing fueled gossip among the staff that Meghan was flirting with William, which she was obviously not, but the tense atmosphere caused by all the touchy-feeliness (and the resultant gossip) deepened the rift between the brothers."
Kate Middleton, left, and Meghan Markle have navigated marrying into the royal family very differently. (Karwai Tang/Getty Images)
Quinn told Fox News Digital that while all the staff he spoke to agreed that the rumors were untrue, Kensington Palace was also a "hothouse where gossip and rumors develop."
"These rumors could become a life of their own," he said. "The senior royals have to stop them before they start. Meanwhile, Meghan was upset and felt that the royal family was… pushing her away. I think the fact that Meghan felt slightly rejected was one of the reasons why this whole project [being senior royals] didn’t work."
"Like I was a hugger, always been a hugger," said Meghan Markle in "Harry & Meghan." "I didn't realize that that is really jarring for a lot of Brits." (Getty Images)
"She was very warm," said Quinn. "Whenever she met other members of the family, she would hug them… the royals just don’t do that… Meghan was astonished, for example, that Charles was so formal with his mother. It was as if she couldn’t understand why the family was so cold. She came from a tradition where if you met someone close to you, you hugged them."
Prince Harry once had a close bond with his sister-in-law, Kate Middleton. (Getty Images)
"Yes, Meghan got very bad press in the U.K.," Quinn continued. "She was nicknamed the ‘Duchess of Difficult’ by people who worked for her when she was a member of the royal family, and also by other members of the royal family."
Markle also spoke about being a hugger in her 2022 Netflix series "Harry & Meghan."
Meghan Markle, seen here in the U.K., was born in California. (Samir Hussein/Getty Images)
"Like I was a hugger, always been a hugger," said Meghan. "I didn't realize that that is really jarring for a lot of Brits."
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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex reside in the wealthy coastal city of Montecito, California, with their two young children. (Photo by Kadir Ilboga/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
"I guess I'd start to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside, carried through on the inside," she said. "There is a forward-facing way of being, and then you close the door, and you relax now. But that formality carries over on both sides, and that was surprising to me."