Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle.Photo: BEN CURTIS/AFP via Getty

Britain’s Catherine (L), Duchess of Cambridge and Britain’s Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, watch Romania’s Simona Halep playing US player Serena Williams

Prince Harrysaid the “Royal Fab 4” — a nickname for Prince Harry,Meghan Markle,Prince WilliamandKate Middleton— was something the “British press created” and later would “dissect.”

“I had put a lot of hope in the idea that, you know, be William and Kate and me and whoever — I thought that the, you know, the four of us would, you know, bring me and William closer together,“Prince Harrysaid in the interview that aired Sunday. “We could go out and do work together. Um, which I did a lot as the third wheel to them, um, which was fun at times, but also I guess slightly awkward at times as well.”

He added, “I don’t think they were ever expecting me to get, or to become, uh, to get into a relationship with, with someone like Meghan who had, you know, a very successful career.”

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Kate Middleton and Prince William.Chris Jackson - WPA Pool/Getty

Meghan Markle

When the two couples began stepping out together, they were dubbed the “Fab 4.”

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“It was something that the British press created — which they could then dissect, or again, it builds, it creates competition as well. Right?” Harry, 38, explained. “The idea of the four of us being together was always a hope for me. Before it was Megan, whoever it was gonna be, I always hoped that the four of us would get on, but very quickly it became Megan versus Kate. And that when it plays out so publicly, you can’t hide from that.”

He added, “Especially when within my family, you have the newspapers laid out pretty much in every single palace house that is around. So yes, it, it does, it creates this competition. And if you’re the new kids on the block and you come in and you’re stealing the limelight — not a limelight that you’ve asked to be put in or have a limelight — that the press, the British press have decided for you.”

Kate Middleton, Prince William, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.Chris Jackson - WPA Pool/Getty

WINDSOR, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 10: Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince William, Prince of Wales, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex on the long Walk at Windsor Castle on September 10, 2022 in Windsor, England. Crowds have gathered and tributes left at the gates of Windsor Castle to Queen Elizabeth II, who died at Balmoral Castle on 8 September, 2022. (Photo by Chris Jackson - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

The Duke of Sussex recalled howPrince Williamand Kate, both 40, reacted to his relationship with Meghan, 41 — an American actress who was divorced and biracial.

“Some of the things that my brother and sister-in-law — some of the way that they were acting or behaving definitely felt to me as though, unfortunately, that stereotyping was causing a bit of a barrier to them really sort of, you know, introducing or welcoming her in,” Harry said.

“No, he never tried to dissuade me from marrying Megan, but he aired some concerns, very early on and said, you know, this is gonna be really hard for you,” Harry recalled. “And 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.”

Kate Middleton, Prince William, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry at Christmas 2017.Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie, Princess Anne, Princess Royal, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry attend Christmas Day Church service at Church of St Mary Magdalene on December 25, 2017 in King’s Lynn

Kate, who gave birth toPrince Louisone month before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s nuptials, decided to raise the prior conversation with Meghan.

The book jacket of Prince Harry’s memoir ‘Spare’.PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE

Prince Harry book

“The brother I’d escorted into Westminster Abbey that morning was gone — forever,” he reportedly wrote. “Who could deny it? He’d never again be first and foremost Willy. We’d never again ride together across the Lesotho countryside with capes blowing behind us. We’d never again share a horsey-smelling cottage while learning to fly. Who shall separate us? Life, that’s who.”

source: people.com