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Prince William may have spotted the royal storm brewing before Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tied the knot. As it turns out, the Prince of Wales actually urged his younger brother to slow down and think carefully before taking the big step. But Harry refused to listen, something that he later admitted in his memoir, Spare.

The Duke of Sussex shared his plans to marry Meghan with William. Harry even felt their late mother, Princess Diana, had guided and helped bring them together and that they were destined to be as one.

However, William looked troubled by his brother’s words. He then told Harry that he was “taking things a bit too far.” According to The List, Harry wrote, “It’s too fast, he’d told me. Too soon. In fact, he’d actually been pretty discouraging about my even dating Meg.”

This moment sparked years of tension and the brothers’ deep feud. William also fought their wedding plans. He did not want them using Westminster Abbey, where he married Princess Catherine. When Harry tried to book St. Paul’s Cathedral, William called it “too grand,” even though their parents, King Charles III and Princess Diana, married there.

In a January 2023 chat with ITV, Harry explained that William never flat-out banned their marriage.

“He never tried to dissuade me from marrying Meghan, but he aired some concerns, very early on and said, you know, this is gonna be really hard for you,” Harry recalled. He added, “I still to this day, I don’t truly understand which part of what he was talking about. But maybe, you know, maybe he predicted what the British press’s reaction was gonna be.”

The royal wedding made Meghan a senior royal, bringing intense press scrutiny. Royal commentators believe that William foresaw the media pressure heading Meghan’s way. His concerns echoed Princess Diana’s quick courtship before marrying Prince Charles.

According to The Mirror, royal expert Marlene Koenig explained in July 2026, “Meghan was not comfortable with all the rules. William was right to advise Harry to take his time and not rush into marriage.”

Koenig pointed out that William and Catherine dated for nearly ten years before marrying. She argued that William wanted Meghan to have more time to learn royal life. William even asked their uncle, Charles Spencer, to help convince Harry to wait. But that move triggered “an even more bitter explosion,” noted author Robert Lacey.

Harry grew upset with his brother’s doubts. In Spare, Harry remembered William telling him, “She’s an actress, after all, Harold. Anything can happen.”

Social media users quickly took sides over the revelation. One fan wrote, “William, get a life…Harry and Meghan are super in love, and happy…unlike you.” Another commenter claimed, “Willie can’t mind his own business. He thinks he knows best about everything. Even taking on the king and interfering in things that’s has nothing to do with him and shouting and screaming at him and that Camilla is not impressed with. He is known to have an awful temper as well.”

However, a third defender posted, “It WASN’T that he wasn’t in agreement with him proposing it was for him to take his time to make sure he was completely sure himself. For example, by meeting her family to give greater insight. Would you let your daughter marry someone without having met them?? Unfathomable.”

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