22 photos show how Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Kate Middleton, and Prince William's relationship has changed over time
- Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, Kate Middleton, and Prince William have not seen each other in person since the Sussexes' final royal engagement in March.
- Photos from Markle and Harry's appearance with William and Middleton on Commonwealth Day showed the "fab four" weren't on the best of terms.
- Excerpts from a new biography on Harry and Markle, "Finding Freedom," suggests that it was their decision to leave the royal family that caused tension at their final appearance.
- However, the relationship between the Sussexes and the Cambridges wasn't always this way.
- Insider has rounded up the best photos of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to show how their relationship has changed.
Markle made her first public appearance with Harry, William, and Middleton on Christmas Day 2017. The Queen broke protocol by allowing her to join the festivities in Sandringham before she was an official member of the royal family.
They were dubbed the "fab four" at their first joint engagement for the Heads Together charity campaign.
Markle was pictured laughing alongside her future in-laws at the event in February 2018, three months before her royal wedding.
They stepped out together again for Commonwealth Day in March that year.
Then it was time for Harry and Markle's royal wedding in May 2018. William was his brother's best man.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's eldest son, Prince George, was a page boy, while their daughter, Princess Charlotte, was a flower girl.
Markle and Middleton seemed to bond at the Duchess of Sussex's first Trooping the Colour parade in June 2018.
A month later, the couples stood on the Buckingham Palace balcony again to watch a flypast in celebration of 100 years of the Royal Air Force.
Markle and Middleton had their first joint outing that summer: a trip to Wimbledon in July.
They chatted at Princess Eugenie's royal wedding in October 2018.
Markle and William, who aren't often photographed together, shared this sweet moment before a Remembrance event.
The four looked chummier than ever at the royal family's Christmas Day celebrations in 2018.
Three months later, Markle and Middleton greeted each other with a hug at the Commonwealth Day 2019 service.
Harry and Middleton appeared together for a rare joint engagement without their significant others in April.
In her first appearance since giving birth, Markle was pictured alongside Harry, Middleton, the Duchess of Cornwall, and William (not pictured) at Trooping the Colour that June.
The following month, Markle, Middleton, and their children enjoyed a family day out to watch Harry and William play polo.
The duchesses appeared together again at Wimbledon 2019.
Middleton and William were asked to pose in baby Archie's official christening photo that July — but it would be the last time the couples were photographed together for four months.
They came face-to-face at a Remembrance event in November, their first event together since Harry acknowledged in an interview that he and William weren't as close as they used to be.
However, the couples, who were seated away from each other at the event in London's Royal Albert Hall, didn't appear to interact.
They finally reunited at the Commonwealth Day service in March. The event marked their first joint engagement since Harry and Markle announced that they would take a step back from the royal family.
Unlike at the previous two Commonwealth Day services, the couples did not attempt to speak to each other here, despite sitting so close.
The event was the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's final engagement as working royals — and hence their final engagement with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
The photos were a stark contrast to the couples' smiling faces as they walked together for the first time on Christmas Day 2017.
Due to Markle and Harry's recent move to LA and the coronavirus pandemic, they have been prevented from seeing William and Middleton in person since the awkward church service.
"A lot of damage has been done," Omid Scobie, co-author of the upcoming Harry and Markle biography "Finding Freedom" told People.
The book, which will be released on August 11, will detail the breakdown of the relationship between the couples, particularly between Harry and William.
According to an excerpt from the book, published by The Times, it was the Sussexes' decision to leave the royal family that caused tensions at their final appearance.
"While the couples had been in a slightly better place after Archie's birth, relations fell apart again in January as the family negotiated Meghan and Harry's new roles," the excerpt reads.
"William, a Kensington Palace source explained, remained upset that private family matters were made public by the couple. 'It's not anger,' the source explained. 'It's hurt.'"
- Read more:
- The most awkward photos from Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Kate Middleton, and Prince William's reunion
- Rare photos of Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, Kate Middleton, and Prince William that you've probably never seen
- The royal family's photographer told us what it was like to capture Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's final days as working royals
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