How Meghan partied while the Fab Four fell: Did Duchess’s ultra lavish New York baby shower take place while William confronted Harry over her ‘abrasive’ nature – before pushing him into a dog bowl?

Meghan Markle’s opulent baby shower at America’s most expensive hotel suite made headlines for its star-studded guest list, designer goodie bags and Michelin-starred menu.

Senior aides and palace officials later reportedly questioned the ‘ostentatious’ display of wealth – but it can now be revealed that the shower held on February 19, 2019, was significant for another reason. 

While Meghan partied in New York with her A-list pals, Prince Harry may have been reeling from his infamous fight with Prince William at Nottingham Cottage – although his account that the argument turned physical has now been disputed. 

In his memoir, Spare, the Duke of Sussex, 41, claimed his older brother confronted him about Meghan’s ‘abrasive’ nature during a tense meeting that ended after William knocked Harry to the floor as he ‘landed on the dog’s bowl’. 

Clues about the timeline are littered in the pages of Harry’s book as he revealed it was ‘February 2019’ when William ‘asked for a meeting’ to discuss Meghan’s problems with palace staff. 

Harry revealed Meghan was ‘out of town, visiting girlfriends’ on the day of the row that rocked the foundation of the ‘Fab Four’ as it was revealed that the Sussex and Cambridge royal households would be split shortly after. 

Meghan, then seven months pregnant with son Prince Archie, touched down in the Big Apple on February 15, and the trip culminated with her big bash on February 19 – before she flew back to the UK in time for the Sussexes’ royal tour of Morocco that began on February 23, 2019.

Considering the Duke and Duchess of Sussex carried out engagements in Bristol and London until February 12, 2019, and spent Valentine’s Day together, it appears the brawl between the brothers occurred sometime during the five days Meghan spent in New York.

Meghan Markle’s opulent baby shower at America’s most expensive hotel suite made headlines for its star-studded guest list, designer goodie bags and Michelin-starred menu

While Meghan partied in New York with her A-list pals, Prince Harry may have been reeling from his infamous fight with Prince William at Nottingham Cottage

After it was leaked in Spain, Spare caused a scandal after a translated excerpt revealed Prince William had ‘physically attacked’ his younger brother after confronting Prince Harry about Meghan’s ‘rude’ behaviour towards staff members. 

The former Suits actress married her prince in a fairytale wedding at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018. 

But, as the Daily Mail’s Editor-at-Large Richard Kay reported, the ‘glow of their wedding had long since faded’ as insiders started openly referring to Meghan as ‘Duchess Difficult’. 

The Sussexes’ former communication secretary, Jason Knauf accused Meghan of ‘bullying’ and undermining the confidence of two members of staff in an internal email in 2018. 

‘I am very concerned that the Duchess was able to bully two PAs out of the household in the past year. The treatment of X was totally unacceptable,’ he wrote, in the email that was leaked after Harry and Meghan quit the Royal Family. 

‘The Duchess seems intent on always having someone in her sights. She is bullying Y and seeking to undermine her confidence. We have had report after report from people who have witnessed unacceptable behaviour towards Y.’

Meghan vehemently denied the allegations of bullying, calling it a ‘calculated smear campaign based on misleading and harmful misinformation’ in a statement. 

However, the allegations against Meghan allegedly troubled the future King after he was informed there was a ‘dossier of distress’ about his sister-in-law’s behaviour. 

In his memoir, Spare, the Duke of Sussex , 41, claimed his older brother confronted him about Meghan’s ‘abrasive’ nature during a tense meeting that ended after William knocked Harry to the floor as he ‘landed on the dog’s bowl’

So, Prince William asked Harry for a face-to-face meeting to ‘discuss the whole rolling catastrophe’ as their relationship became increasingly strained, the Duke wrote in Spare. 

‘Just him and me,’ he said. 

‘As it happened, Meg was out of town, visiting girlfriends, so his timing was perfect,’ the Duke seemingly referred to his wife’s baby shower in New York. 

Harry said he invited William to ‘Nott Cott’ or Nottingham Cottage, in the grounds of Kensington Palace, which would become the site of their explosive fight. 

‘He looked piping hot,’ Harry described William’s alleged mood as he arrived for the chat and ‘just went all in’. 

He said to have branded Meghan ‘difficult’, ‘rude’ and ‘abrasive’ and claimed she was ‘alienating half the staff’. 

Harry accused his brother of ‘parroting the Press narrative’ about his American wife before a screaming match erupted in the kitchen, the former soldier claimed.  

‘Willy, I can’t speak to you when you’re like this,’ Harry told William, while handing him a glass of water. 

‘He set down the water, called me another name, then came at me,’ Harry wrote, insisting he was scared. 

‘It all happened so fast. So very fast. He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. 

‘I landed on the dog’s bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me. I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out.’

In his memoir, Spare, the Duke of Sussex, 41, claimed his older brother confronted him about Meghan’s ‘abrasive’ nature during a tense meeting at Nottingham Cottage (pictured) that ended after William knocked Harry to the floor as he ‘landed on the dog’s bowl’

Harry claimed William urged him to ‘fight’ and ‘hit me’ like they used to scrap when they were children, but the Duke said he refused. 

William then reportedly left the kitchen before returning ‘two long minutes’ later and apologised. 

William then allegedly ‘turned and called back: “You don’t need to tell Meg about this.”‘

Harry claimed he said: ‘You mean that you attacked me?’, to which William replied: ‘I didn’t attack you, Harold.’ 

The Duke said he resisted the urge to ‘call my wife’ and rang his therapist after William left. 

Describing the fight, he told her William ‘knocked me to the floor’ and that ‘my shirt was ripped, my necklace was broken’. 

‘We’d had a million physical fights in our lives, I told her. 

‘As boys, we’d done nothing but fight,’ Harry wrote. ‘But this felt different.’ 

After he hung up, Harry was determined to keep his promise to William, but ‘not long after she returned from her trip’ to what is believed to be New York, Meghan noticed the ‘scrapes and bruises’ on his back. 

‘I couldn’t lie to her,’ he wrote. ‘She wasn’t that surprised, and she wasn’t at all angry. 

‘She was terribly sad,’ the Duke wrote. 

Some of the guests, left to right: Hair stylist Serge Normant, Soho House global membership director Markus Anderson; Suits star Abigail Spencer; fashion publicist Celine Khavarani; makeup artist Daniel Martin; mother-to-be Meghan Markle, designer Misha Nonoo; tennis star Serena Williams; fitness guru Taryn Toomey, and university friend Lindsay Roth.

The extravagant party was held inside the largest hotel penthouse suite in the US at the five-star Mark Hotel (pictured) in New York, which cost £57,000 a night

Lavish: The baby shower took place in the Penthouse Suite at The Mark Hotel, which was widely reported to be the most expensive per-night hotel room in the US

A host of celebrities – including Amal Clooney (left) and Abigail Spencer (right) were invited to the baby shower

Meghan’s make-up artist Daniel Martin (left) and Fashion designer Misha Nonoo (right) were among the invitees 

As the brothers – who were once inseparable – grappled with the aftermath of their fight, it would appear Meghan was swept away by the festivities ahead of the arrival of the couple’s firstborn, Prince Archie. 

The trip to New York marked Meghan’s first time back in the US after she married Prince Harry, as she was reunited with her Suits co-star Abigail Spencer and long-term pal Jessica Mulroney, among others. 

No expense was spared for the extravagant baby shower – thought to cost a whopping £330,000 – as the group partied in the £57,000-a-night penthouse at the Mark Hotel in Manhattan. 

The shower was hosted by Serena Williams, Jessica and Genevieve Hillis, who has been Markle’s best friend since the age of 17 when they met at Northwestern University in Illinois. 

While 20 of Meghan’s closest friends were at the soiree, no one from her family or Prince Harry’s family attended the baby shower.  

Tennis star Serena enlisted the help of her wedding planner, Jennifer Zabinski, who booked the Upper East Side hotel’s Grand Penthouse for the occasion.  

The opulent suite boasts five bedrooms, two bars, four fireplaces, six bathrooms, two powder rooms and a rooftop terrace with views over Central Park.

Guests included Amal Clooney, Gayle King, wellness guru Taryn Toomey, university friend Lindsay Roth, fashion designer Misha Nonoo, Soho House global membership director Markus Anderson, fashion publicist Celine Khavarani, NBC cable entertainment chief Bonnie Hammer, makeup artist Daniel Martin, and hairdresser Serge Normant.

Inside, a harpist played as attendees celebrated the expectant mother while enjoying food made by The Mark’s Michelin-star chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. 

In one photograph Meghan, dressed in a navy blue polka-dot dress, can be seen laughing with her friends  

Meghan opened up about how her friends ‘surprised’ her with a ‘beautiful’ baby shower at The Mark Hotel in Manhattan when she was expecting her son Archie in her and Harry’s Netflox docuseries (Pictured: The Duchess with friends including Abigail Spencer, Daniel Martin, Misha Nonoo, Serena Williams and Lindsay Roth)

Goodies! Daniel shared a picture of the cookies from Meghan’s star-studded baby shower in New York, saying he had ‘such an incredible day celebrating’

Renowned New York florist Lewis Miller guided guests through a flower-arranging lesson, with all the bunches later being donated to Repeat Roses – a company that supplies bouquets to places like hospitals, nursing homes and homeless shelters.

A dessert table was filled with sweet treats from the macaron tower, to baby-themed sugar cookies and a two-tiered cake decorated with miniature figures of Meghan and Harry pushing a stroller.

According to People, after the event, guests were gifted Cuyana leather totes that were filled to the brim with products.

The totes, which retail for $175-$195 depending on style, included $67 Jo Malone Green Tomato Leaf scented candles, $65 Tatcha Rice Enzyme Powder and $81 Susanne Kaufmann Body Butter.

They also reportedly featured products from Rodin and Jessica Alba’s company Honest Beauty.

After jetting back to the UK days later in the Clooneys’ private jet, Meghan was apparently met with disapproval from the palace thanks to the ‘media circus’ her shower created.

In the 2020 biography Finding Freedom, co-authored by journalists Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durant, a senior aide revealed: ‘It’s fair to say that the optics of the somewhat flashy shower did not go down well with certain individuals at the palace.

‘I think a few people who had defended her over the months felt a little disappointed. But sometimes in this role, you’re dammed if you do and damned if you don’t.

‘Ultimately, the trip was just Meghan’s friends celebrating a really exciting moment in her life.’

At the time, a royal expert told ABC News that the shower was ‘highly inappropriate’, noting that Kate Middleton forwent the celebrations for all three of her children, which was more in keeping with the royals’ reserved image.

The backlash didn’t stop the Duchess from sharing a glimpse into the controversial affair in her and Harry’s four-episode Netflix series in 2022.

Speaking on the show, Meghan said: ‘My friends surprised me with a really beautiful baby shower in New York.

‘They were like, “We’re going to shower her with love, and shower her baby, and she’s going to survive this, and we’re going to get through it with her.”‘

In response to the criticism of the cost of the shower, Meghan said: ‘These strong, successful, independent women choose to use their own money, and it’s not taxpayer money, to throw a party for their friend from a place of love.

‘Why are you taking such a beautiful moment and trying to ruin it?’