MEGHAN & KATE THE ULTIMATE SHOWDOWN

After months of tension, Kate finally confronts Meghan

The end is in sight. In late February, the palace revealed that March 31 will be the last day Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan will be considered senior members of the royal family following their bombshell January announcement that they were quitting in hopes of living a financially independent life.

But first, the palace confirmed, the couple would be returning to Britain for a final run of events, ranging from Harry’s February 28 Invictus Games Choir recording session with Jon Bon Jovi to Meghan’s March 8 International Women’s Day celebration, plus a few more outings in between – not to mention, a palace insider confirms, more crisis talks about their future.

It’s all leading up to the main event: the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey on March 9, where they’ll join the Queen and the rest of Harry’s relatives, including his brother, Prince William, and William’s wife, Duchess Kate. It’ll be some reunion!

While the palace has previously confirmed that Harry, 35, and William, 37, have had to see each other amid contentious ‘Megxit’ talks, Commonwealth Day marks the first time in four months that Kate and Meghan, both 38, will be required to publicly step out together.

‘Tensions have been brewing between the duchesses for years,’ says the insider. ‘The Queen’s panicking over fears that Kate and Meghan are ticking time bombs. After everything that’s happened, it’s almost inevitable that there will be an explosive final showdown between the women when they finally come face to face in London.’