“Prince William And Kate Middleton Were Not Willing To Hug Me During Our First Meeting” – Meghan Markle

Meghan Markle recounted the reaction of Prince William and Kate Middleton during her and Prince Harry’s first meeting with them, in the first three episodes of their Netflix docuseries, however, she and Prince Harry didn’t say much about the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Meghan mentioned meeting them for the first time at Prince Harry’s Kensington Palace cottage and implied they weren’t keen on her approaching them for a hug.

Meghan expressed surprise at how “formal” the royal family remained in a private setting.

She stated that she was unaware of the formality with which the royals conduct their daily lives, so she greeted the Prince and Princess of Wales barefoot and in ripped jeans.

Narrating her first meeting with Kate, Meghan said, “I was a hugger and have always been a hugger. I didn’t realize that that was 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.”

Markle stated that she wasn’t expecting the royals to behave the same way behind closed doors as they do in public.

She said: “There is a forward-facing way of being, and then you close the door and you are like, ‘Oh, great. We can relax now.’ But that formality carries over on both sides. And that was surprising to me.

“It’s so funny when I look back now because now I know so much,” she said, adding that she’s “so glad I didn’t then because I could just authentically be myself without so much preparedness.”

Markle also said she was unaware that she would have to bow before Queen Elizabeth II when they first met.

Speaking about this, Prince Harry said, “My grandmother was the first senior member of the royal family that Meghan met. She [Meghan] had no idea what it all consisted of. It was a bit of a shock to the system for her.”

Meghan also said, “I mean, it’s surreal. I didn’t know I was going to meet her until moments before.

“We were in the car, and we were going to the royal lodge for lunch, and Harry said, ‘Oh, my grandmother’s gonna be here!’ We were driving up and he said, ‘You know how to curtsey, right?’ And I just thought it was a joke.”