The 6-Word Warning Prince William Had For Harry Before He Proposed To Meghan Markle

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Prince William might have foreseen the royal mess that became Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's lives after they got married. Because, as it turns out, he cautioned his younger brother to think twice before proposing. But Harry wouldn't hear any of it, admitting as much in his bombshell memoir "Spare." The Duke of Sussex told William about his plans to marry Meghan, and that he felt like their mother, Princess Diana, had a hand in introducing him to her. Harry felt they were destined to be together. William looked "concerned" by this statement, then warned his younger brother that he was "taking things a bit too far," Harry penned. He continued, "It's too fast, he'd told me. Too soon. In fact, he'd actually been pretty discouraging about my even dating Meg." 

This was only one of many incidents that contributed to William and Harry's ongoing, years-long feud. The Prince of Wales proceeded to seemingly resist every plan Harry and Meghan tried to make for their nuptials. He didn't want them to use Westminster Abbey for the ceremony (he and Princess Catherine got married there), and when Harry attempted to secure St. Paul's Cathedral, William proclaimed it "too grand," despite it being where King Charles III and the late Diana said their vows. 

In a January 2023 ITV interview following the release of "Spare," Harry clarified William didn't outright tell him not to get hitched. "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 (via People), adding, "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."

There were many public moments that changed how the world saw Meghan Markle, and her wedding to Prince Harry was the most significant of them all. She officially became a senior member of the royal family, and the media scrutiny immediately followed. Royal experts have surmised that Prince William saw the media furor coming a mile away and wasn't sure the former "Suits" star could handle it so early in her relationship with Harry. His fears were likely, in part, based on what happened with Princess Diana, who also had a very short courtship with King Charles III before they got married. 

"Meghan was not comfortable with all the rules. William was right to advise Harry to take his time and not rush into marriage," royal expert Marlene Koenig explained to The Mirror in July 2026. She pointed out that William and his own wife, Princess Catherine, had an almost decade-long courtship before tying the knot. "William was worried Meghan was not afforded that time — and perhaps if they lived together for a few years, Meghan would have had more time to observe," Koenig argued. In fact, the Prince of Wales felt so strongly that he reportedly sought the help of their uncle, Charles Spencer, in discouraging Harry from rushing into marrying Meghan. "The result of the Spencer intervention was an even more bitter explosion," royal author Robert Lacey disclosed in "Battle of Brothers." 

Naturally, Harry wasn't happy with his brother's approach, especially given the fact that the Prince of Wales didn't seem to have much faith in Meghan's ability to handle royal life. As Harry recalled in his tell-all memoir, "Spare," William told him, "She's an actress, after all, Harold. Anything can happen." And sure enough, it did.