25 July 2023 , 10:53
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A friend of Kate has said Meghan Markle was wrong about their first meeting - and insisted the Princess of Wales greets everyone with a "big hug and kiss".
Kate's friend said she is "warm and friendly", denying claims of formality made by the Duchess of Sussex in the Netflix show Harry & Meghan. In the episode, Meghan said she was "surprised" by the behind-the-scenes formality of members of the royal family.
Recalling a dinner party with Prince William and Kate during the early days of her relationship with Harry, when the two couples lived just a few doors apart in Kensington Palace, Meghan said: "When Will and Kate came over, and I met her for the first time, they came over for dinner, I remember I was in ripped jeans and I was barefoot.
"I was a hugger. I've always been a hugger, I didn't realise 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.
"There is a forward-facing way of being, and then you close the door and go 'You can relax now', but that formality carries over on both sides. And that was surprising to me."
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However, in an interview with People, an unnamed friend of the Princess of Wales denied the claims, saying she is "a big hugger".
The friend added: "She is warm and friendly and greets everyone with a big hug and kiss. It comes naturally to her to be like that."
In the Netflix show, Harry also recalled Meghan's first meeting with his grandmother, describing it as a "shock to the system".
He said: "My grandmother was the first senior member of the family that Meghan met. She had no idea what it all consisted of so it was a bit of a shock to the system for her."
Meghan said: "There wasn't like some big moment of 'Now you're going to meet my grandmother'. I didn't know I was going to meet her until moments before.
"We were in the car and we were going to Royal Lodge for lunch, and he's like 'Oh, my grandmother's here, we're going to meet her after church'. And I remember we were in the car driving up and he's like .You know how to curtsy, right? And I just thought it was a joke."
Harry said: "How do you explain that to people? How do you explain that you bow to your grandmother? And that you will need to curtsy. Especially to an American. That's weird.'
Meghan added: "Now I'm starting to realise this is a big deal. I mean, Americans will understand this. We have Medieval Times, Dinner and Tournament. It was like that."