The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Duke and Duchess of Sussex – previously dubbed the ‘Fab Four’ – attended the event in 2018 and were on stage promoting their work through the foundation when Harry interrupted his wife’s impassioned speech.
It was Meghan’s first official engagement with the Cambridges and she spoke about the importance of women’s rights.
Mr Bower, author of the new bombshell book Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the war between the Windsors, claimed Meghan’s words upset the foundations’ executives and created an awkward atmosphere between the two royal couples.
In an extract from his book, Mr Bower analysed Harry’s whispered comment to his wife during her speech.
While the four all laughed at the Duke’s comment, the author paints a picture that it was his way of reminding his fiancé at the time to not get ahead of herself.
Harry raised the fact they still had a wedding to plan when Meghan was outlining the important work she hoped to get involved with in empowering women.
During the heartfelt speech, she said: “With so many campaigns like MeToo and TimesUp, there’s no better time to continue to shine a light on women feeling empowered and people supporting them.
“You’ll often hear people say, ‘well you’re helping people find their voice’ and I fundamentally disagree with that, because women don’t need to find a voice. They have a voice, they need to feel empowered to use it, and people need to be encouraged to listen.”
Harry interjected: “Wedding first.”
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“We can multi-task”, Meghan replied to the unexpected interruption.
In his book, Bower commented on the exchange: “Instead of speaking about mental health, she had been swept up by her vision of a modern monarchy.
“She imagined herself as centre-stage rather than recognising the reality of standing on the periphery.
“As the discomfort among the four became obvious, William tried to restore harmony.
“The Crown, he volunteered, should be ‘relevant to their generation’ but the Four should not reinvent the wheel’”
The royal biographer also made reference to disagreements between the two couples after they were asked by members of the audience.
He wrote: “Disputes, they acknowledged, existed.
“‘They come so thick and fast. Working as a family does have its challenges’, Harry said.
“‘We don’t know’, William is said to have admitted when asked whether their disagreements had been resolved.”