Kate Middleton ‘avoided meeting Meghan Markle for as long as possible’

Kate Middleton reportedly dodged meeting Meghan Markle for as long as possible during her early courtship with Prince Harry. According to royal author Christopher Andersen, the Princess of Wales ‘side-stepped’ her introduction to the Suits actress, which had apparently been requested by her husband, Prince William, and his brother Harry. (Picture: Kirsty O’Connor/POOL/AFP)

Kate, 44, who historically was said to have had a ‘sibling-like’ relationship with Harry until he and Meghan stepped back from royal duties in January 2020, was once like the ‘big sister [Harry] never had.’ Despite this, in the summer of 2016, it was revealed that Kate was initially reluctant about meeting the Suits star — for reasons Anderson said came ‘from a good place.’ (Picture: Getty Images)

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One of Kate’s friends, who she studied with at Marlborough College, said the princess had ‘always been a substitute big sister to Harry, watching out for him and making certain no one takes advantage.’ Therefore, they suggested that the future queen was ‘a little frightened by what she was reading,’ Daily Mail reports. Anderson says Kate was apprehensive about how fast Harry and Meghan’s relationship was moving. (Picture: Getty Images)

This was something that allegedly concerned William at the time, too. In his 2021 book, Brothers and Wives: Inside the Private Lives of William, Kate, Harry, and Meghan, Andersen wrote that ‘William worried aloud that things were moving too fast.’ He also stated that ‘Meghan had secured a degree of control over his brother that no other woman ever had.’ Anderson added: ‘Harry was on the defensive whenever the subject of Meghan came up, leaving friends and family alike on tenterhooks.’ (Picture: Getty Images)

However, royal fans will know that once Kate met Meghan, the two women put on quite the sisterhood front for a good amount of time. Additionally, Kate, William, Harry and Meghan also became known as the ‘Fab Four,’ thanks to their high-profile positive public outings, where the brothers and sisters-in-law appeared to get on like a house on fire. (Picture: Getty Images)

It wasn’t until January 2017 that Kate actually met Meghan, with Harry taking his girlfriend to the then-Cambridge’s Apartment 1A at Kensington Palace for the introduction. Anderson stated that Kate embraced Meghan upon arrival and that the actor was keen to make a good first impression. Meghan, also 44, reportedly bought Kate a $295 Smythson Portobello notebook as a birthday gift and spent time playing with Princess Charlotte, who was one at the time. (Picture: Getty Images)

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Anderson also revealed that, following the first meeting, Kate allegedly told Meghan that if she ever needed ‘anything at all,’ she could contact her. ‘If anyone could offer sound advice on how to navigate the treacherous waters of the monarchy, it was the ever-patient, transcendentally calm Kate,’ he added. Meghan later shared that she had felt a ‘sense of profound relief’ that both Kate and William welcomed and accepted her into the family. Following their engagement in November 2017, the Prince and Princess of Wales also released a statement that said it had been ‘wonderful getting to know Meghan and to see how happy she and Harry are together.’ (Picture: Getty Images)

Interestingly, there have since been inconsistencies in terms of how the first meeting went. In Harry and Meghan’s engagement interview, the couple spoke about how William and Kate had both been excited to meet the newest member of the family. Harry said: ‘William was longing to meet her, and so was Catherine. So, you know, being our neighbors, we managed to get that in a couple of, well, quite a few times now, and Catherine has been absolutely…’ before Meghan interruped with: ‘She’s been wonderful.’ (Picture: Getty Images)

But later, Meghan claimed that their initial introduction wasn’t so smooth. During the couple’s explosive Netflix series, 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.’ (Picture: Getty Images)

According to the royal timeline, things started to get frosty between Kate and Meghan shortly after — specifically in the run-up to the royal wedding. With alleged disagreements during a bridesmaid fitting for Princess Charlotte, to it being claimed that Meghan had made Kate cry, the actor later clarified during her and Harry’s 2021 tell-all Oprah interview that it was the other way round. ‘She [Kate] was upset about something, but she owned it, and she apologized. And she brought me flowers,’ Meghan said. (Picture: Getty Images)

Two years later, in January 2023, when Harry was interviewed by Tom Bradby on ITV, he claimed that his brother and sister-in-law didn’t get on with Meghan ‘from the get-go’ for ‘lots of different reasons.’ Harry explained: ‘I don’t think they were ever expecting me to get into a relationship with someone like Meghan, who had, you know, a very successful career. There was a lot of stereotyping that was happening, that I was guilty of as well, at the beginning.’ (Picture: Getty Images)

Unpacking what he meant, the prince said: ‘American actress, and that was playing out in the British press in the media at the time as well. I had that in the back of my mind, and some of the things that my brother and sister-in-law – some of the way that they were acting or behaving definitely felt to me as though, unfortunately, that stereotyping was causing a bit of a barrier to them really sort of, you know, introducing or welcoming her in.’ (Picture: Getty Images)

Kate Middleton ‘avoided meeting Meghan Markle for as long as possible’

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