Harry, William's rift sparked face to face showdown at Kensington Palace

Prince Harry and Prince William's long-simmering tensions erupted into a face-to-face confrontation at Kensington Palace.

Reports have long suggested that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle often had strained relationship with their royal staff during their time as a working royal.

One of the most notable and contentious episodes involved senior aide Jason Knauf, whose role in Palace life later became central to one of Sussexes' biggest controversies.

After leaving his position with Harry and Meghan, Knauf went onto serve as a  special advisor to Prince William and Princess Kate.

In his book Courtiers, Valentine Low writes that: 'It was Jason who became the reason of the first clashes between Harry and William as he reportedly sent an internal email raising concerns about Meghan's alleged bad treatment of staff in the Royal Family, which was leaked after Megxit. 

'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,' Knauf allegedly wrote. 

Royal author Robert Lacey claimed that when Knauf presented the Prince of Wales with a 'dossier of distress' about their behaviour he 'went ballistic' and was left 'astonished' and 'horrified' by what he heard. 

According to Lacey, William phoned Harry  in the aftermath, but the the Duke of Sussex 'flared up in a fierce defence of his wife.' 

'Harry shut of his phone angrily, so William sent straight to find his brother on the Kensington campus.' 

For context, Jason Knauf is now the chief executive of William's Earthshot Prize,  launched by the Prince in 2020.