A royal expert has claimed that Prince William made a subtle dig at Meghan Markle during a public appearance also attended by Prince Harry and Kate Middleton.

A Royal expert has suggested that Prince William subtly criticised Meghan Markle during a Royal event also attended by Prince Harry and Kate Middleton. The incident occurred a few months before Harry and Meghan’s wedding, when the couple joined William and Kate on stage to launch the Royal Foundation Forum – marking Meghan’s first appearance as a “working royal.”

Fans quickly dubbed the group “The Fab Four” and they appeared to be all smiles on stage.

However, according to Richard Eden, the Daily Mail’s Diary Editor, there had already been a moment of tension backstage that highlighted a stark difference between Kate and Meghan’s personalities – and hinted at potential discord within the Royal Family.

At their first public outing, the foursome admitted to behind-the-scenes ‘disagreements’

Speaking on the Royal Confidential podcast, Richard revealed: “We later learned from Prince Harry’s book Spare that there had been an awkward moment backstage when Meghan had asked to borrow Katherine’s lip gloss. He describes how Katherine was taken aback by this, but eventually found some and grimaced when Megan squeezed some out.”

Richard also recalled how Meghan used the event to champion female empowerment with “a bold public endorsement” of the Me Too and Times Up campaigns.

“Honourable causes but a clear potential clash with politicians which is the last thing the Royal Family want,” he explained. “You do wonder if a line in William’s speech, where he said ‘The task for us would not be to reinvent the wheel’ could have been aimed at his soon-to-be sister-in-law.”

A backstage moment between Kate and Meghan hinted at future discord (Image: Getty Images)

The Royal Family’s culture is very much about maintaining the status quo. This sentiment was echoed by Princess Anne, William’s aunt, who warned against trying to modernise Royal behaviour, stating “not reinvent that wheel”. Richard noted the tension between tradition and modernity at a historic event, evident in the strained expressions of some young royals.

He said: “At the time the optimists among us put the strained expressions and false smiles down to nerves or at worst teething difficulties but as we’ll find out things really were bad – and about to get worse,” reports Cambridgeshire Live.

The event also saw what might now be seem as the beginnings of the foursome’s feud. When asked if there were disagreements among them, William responded with a firm “Yes,” while Harry added that these were “healthy” disagreements. William explained: “We’ve got four different personalities and we’ve got the same passions to make a difference, but different opinions. I think those opinions work really really well.”

He added: “Working as a family does have its challenges and the fact that everyone is laughing shows they know exactly what it’s like. We’re stuck together for the rest of our lives.”