Prince Harry Says U.K. Press Pitted Meghan Markle Against Kate Middleton: 'It Became Meghan Vs. Kate'

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BEN CURTIS/AFP via Getty Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle

Prince Harry said the "Royal Fab 4" — a nickname for Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Prince William and Kate Middleton — was something the "British press created" and later would "dissect."

Ahead of the release of his memoir Spare, the Duke of Sussex sat down with ITV's Tom Bradby for a wide-ranging interview, including how his relationship with Meghan changed the dynamics with his older brother and sister-in-law.

"I had put a lot of hope in the idea that, you know, be William and Kate and me and whoever — I thought that the, you know, the four of us would, you know, bring me and William closer together," Prince Harry said in the interview that aired Sunday. "We could go out and do work together. Um, which I did a lot as the third wheel to them, um, which was fun at times, but also I guess slightly awkward at times as well."

He added, "I don't think they were ever expecting me to get, or to become, uh, to get into a relationship with, with someone like Meghan who had, you know, a very successful career."

RELATED: Prince Harry Calls Prince William His 'Beloved Brother' and 'Archnemesis' in Book

Chris Jackson - WPA Pool/Getty Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Kate Middleton and Prince William

When the two couples began stepping out together, they were dubbed the "Fab 4."

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"It was something that the British press created — which they could then dissect, or again, it builds, it creates competition as well. Right?" Harry, 38, explained. "The idea of the four of us being together was always a hope for me. Before it was Megan, whoever it was gonna be, I always hoped that the four of us would get on, but very quickly it became Megan versus Kate. And that when it plays out so publicly, you can't hide from that."

He added, "Especially when within my family, you have the newspapers laid out pretty much in every single palace house that is around. So yes, it, it does, it creates this competition. And if you're the new kids on the block and you come in and you're stealing the limelight — not a limelight that you've asked to be put in or have a limelight — that the press, the British press have decided for you."

Chris Jackson - WPA Pool/Getty Kate Middleton, Prince William, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

The Duke of Sussex recalled how Prince William and Kate, both 40, reacted to his relationship with Meghan, 41 — an American actress who was divorced and biracial.

"Some of the things that my brother and sister-in-law — some of the way that they were acting or behaving definitely felt to me as though, unfortunately, that stereotyping was causing a bit of a barrier to them really sort of, you know, introducing or welcoming her in," Harry said.

When Bradby asked Prince Harry if his older brother had tried to dissuade him from marrying Meghan, Harry said William "never did that."

"No, he never tried to dissuade me from marrying Megan, but he aired some concerns, very early on and said, you know, this is gonna be really hard for you," Harry recalled. "And 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."

Chris Jackson/Getty Images Kate Middleton, Prince William, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry at Christmas 2017

In a report on Spare ahead of the book's release published by the Daily Mail last week, Prince Harry described a confrontation between the two women after Meghan referenced Kate's "baby brain because of her hormones" during a discussion ahead of Harry and Meghan's May 2018 wedding.

Kate, who gave birth to Prince Louis one month before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's nuptials, decided to raise the prior conversation with Meghan.

"It caused such a huge row because Meghan was told that she wasn't close enough to her sister-in-law to discuss her hormones, and it wasn't the way people spoke to each other within the royal family," a source told the outlet. Meghan, in turn, was reportedly offended by the reprimand.

PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE The book jacket of Prince Harry's memoir 'Spare'

In the memoir, Prince Harry also reflected on Prince William and Kate's 2011 wedding, recalling that it felt like "yet another farewell" in an excerpt published by Us Weekly.

"The brother I'd escorted into Westminster Abbey that morning was gone — forever," he reportedly wrote. "Who could deny it? He'd never again be first and foremost Willy. We'd never again ride together across the Lesotho countryside with capes blowing behind us. We'd never again share a horsey-smelling cottage while learning to fly. Who shall separate us? Life, that's who."

He added, "And I recall Willy walking her back up the aisle, and as they disappeared through the door, into the carriage that would convey them to Buckingham Palace, into the eternal partnership they'd pledged, I recall thinking: Goodbye."