Meghan Markle Says Kate Middleton's Reaction to Her Trying to Hug Her During First Meeting Was ‘Surprising’

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s new Netflix documentary series, Harry & Meghan, did not say too much about Kate Middleton and Prince William in its first three episodes. But it did detail what Meghan’s first meeting with the now-Prince and Princess of Wales were like and how it affected her perception of the family.

While Meghan had reportedly met William in November 2016, she and Kate met later, in January 2017. She went in for a hug…and found that Kate was not expecting such a warm reception.

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

The couple didn’t say anything more about Kate and William explicitly, although Harry did reveal his family was dismissed the idea of his relationship with Meghan lasting because of her profession. “I remember my family first meeting her 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 was probably what clouded their judgment more than anything else in the beginning. Oh, she’s an American actress, this won’t last.”

While Meghan and Harry first started dating in summer 2016, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand reported earlier in their book on the Sussexes, Finding Freedom, that Kate “had seemingly not shown much interest” in finding out who Harry’s girlfriend was.

A friend explained to the two royal reporters that it wasn’t anything personal regarding Meghan: “The Duchess is an extremely guarded person,” Kate’s friend circle is tight and she was careful about what new people she let in. Her friends now “are for the most part the same ones she had on her wedding day,” Scobie and Durand reported.

Harry & Meghan claimed they reached out to the royal family for comment regarding the series, and the royals declined to comment. Palace sources claimed to Page Six the family wasn’t contacted, which other sources disputed, but one palace source notably told the outlet the family wouldn’t be commenting on the series’ content regardless.

Senior News and Strategy Editor

Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.