'Best of Friends' No More: Meghan Markle's Entry and Marriage to Prince Harry Drove a Wedge Between Duke and Prince William

Princes William and Harry were reportedly a "close-knit pair of royal siblings" in the years leading up to Harry's first date with Meghan Markle during the summer of 2016.

Former butler to King Charles III, Grant Harrold, who also helped look after the princes, spoke on behalf of Slingo about the shattered bond between brothers. "It's very sad, they were just the best of friends, I remember William and Harry just sitting there giggling and laughing the whole night, that’s how close they were they’d socialize all the time as brothers," he shared.

"This probably stopped when Harry got married, that's the reality of it," he added. "In fairness, when William and Catherine married they obviously moved away, but Harry would still stay with them, and they would all go out together. Harry moving to another country put a spanner in the works so, I think it’s been a gradual process over the past ten years."

Harry and Meghan announced their royal engagement to one another in November 2017, which would kick off a series of "notable tensions" between the betrothed, royal rebels-in-training and William and Kate.

First up on the royal rift tally of tensions was "lip gloss gate." The February 2018 Royal Foundation Summit on mental health led to the quartet of thirtysomethings being labeled the "Fab Four" by the British press, which was to be short-lived. According to the Duke of Sussex's memoir, Kate and Meghan started having issues at that event, and it happened backstage.

"All this came on the heels of an awkward moment backstage. Meg asked to borrow Kate's lip gloss. An American thing. Meg forgot hers, worried she needed some, and turned to Kate for help," the prince wrote.

Describing the animosity that festered between the Duchess and Duchess-to-be, Harry added, "Kate, taken aback, went into her handbag and reluctantly pulled out a small tube. Meg squeezed some onto her finger and applied it to her lips. Kate grimaced."

This incident would be soon followed by the Princess Charlotte bridesmaid dress fiasco that left Meghan furious at Kate, which happened days before the future California residents married.

Today, reports suggest the Prince of Wales will run a very different type of monarchy compared to his father. This could also include a full severance in every possible way with his brother and sister-in-law.

"William is already planning for when he becomes King, and he doesn’t see a future for the Sussexes in the royal family," an insider spilled. "The feeling is that allowing the Sussexes back into the fold is a bad move, and they should be resigned to the fringes indefinitely."

Although it could be many years before he becomes monarch upon his father's death, the heir to the throne is reportedly trying to envision how to neutralize "the Sussex problem," which will likely include "no return home" for the pair when he is King.