It’s no secret that Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle’s relationship has been strained over the years (Meghan opened up about this during her interview with Oprah), but apparently, they never really got a chance to “bond” when Meghan joined the royal family.
Royal biographer Andrew Morton writes in his unauthorized biography, Meghan: A Hollywood Princess, that “Kate and Meghan were neither sisters nor, unlike Fergie and Diana, friends before they joined the Royal Family. What is more, during the buildup to Meghan’s wedding, Kate was experiencing her third difficult pregnancy and was focused on her own welfare. She did not have much energy to bond with her new neighbor. When they sat together in the royal box to watch the Ladies’ Singles Final at Wimbledon in July 2018, the two women were still getting to know one another.”
Turns out there was “little opportunity” for the duchesses to form a true friendship away from the spotlight, with Andrew saying, “It was a practical matter as much as anything. Kate spent weekends and holidays at Anmer Hall, the Cambridges’ country home in Norfolk, while Meghan and Harry were approximately three hours’ drive away, living in a large, remote, rented property on the Great Tew estate in Oxfordshire. Harry’s dream of two united happy families seemed a long way off.”
Oprah actually asked Meghan about going to Wimbledon with Kate, asking, “Was it what it looked like?” Meghan responded at the time, “I know you say, ‘Was it what it looked like?’—my understanding and my experience for the past four years is that it’s nothing like what it looks like.”
Mehera Bonner is a celebrity and entertainment news writer who enjoys Bravo and Antiques Roadshow with equal enthusiasm, She was previously entertainment editor at Marie Claire and has covered pop culture for over a decade.
