Meghan Markle says Kate Middleton’s reaction when she tried to hug her during their first meeting was ‘shocking’

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s new Netflix documentary series, harry and meghanIt didn’t say much about Kate Middleton and Prince William in its first three episodes. But he did detail what Meghan’s first meeting with the now Prince and Princess of Wales was like and how it affected her perception of her family.

While Meghan reportedly met William in November 2016, she and Kate met later, in January 2017. She went to hug him … and found that Kate wasn’t expecting such a warm reception.

“Even when Will and Kate came over, and I met her for the first time, they came over for dinner,” Meghan said. “I remember she was in ripped jeans and barefoot. Like, I was a hugger, I’ve always been a hugger. I didn’t realize that’s really jarring to a lot of Brits. I guess I began to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside was carried out on the inside. That there is a way of being for the future. And then you close the door and you’re like, ‘Oh, great. Okay, we can relax now. But that formality carries over to both sides. And that surprised me.”

The couple didn’t say anything more about Kate and William explicitly, though Harry revealed that his family rejected the idea of ​​his relationship with Meghan being long-lasting because of her profession. “I remember my family meeting her for the first time and being incredibly impressed,” he said. “Some of them didn’t quite know what to do with themselves… But the fact that I was dating an American actress probably clouded his judgment more than anything else at first. Oh, she’s an American actress, this won’t last.”

While Meghan and Harry began dating in the summer of 2016, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand previously reported in their book on the Sussexes, find freedom, that Kate had “apparently not shown much interest” in finding out who Harry’s girlfriend was.

A friend explained to the two royal reporters that it was nothing personal about Meghan: “The Duchess is an extremely cautious person,” Kate’s circle of friends is tight and she was careful who she let in new people. Her friends now “are for the most part hers, the same ones she had on her wedding day,” Scobie and Durand reported.

harry and meghan they claimed they contacted the royal family for comment on the series, with the royals declining to comment. Palace sources assured page six The family was not contacted, which other sources disputed, but a palace source notably told the outlet that the family would not comment on the content of the series anyway.

Senior News and Strategy Editor

Alyssa Bailey is the Senior Editor for News and Strategy at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions in Fashion Y Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running through Central Park, having people take #ootd photos of her, and exploring New York City.