Meghan Markle thought Kate Middleton was ‘too much a goody-two-shoes girl’ before fallout, claims royal sources
THEY both married into the royal family, but it’s safe to say that Meghan Markle and Princess Kate have not emerged as best friends – at least for the time being.
According to one palace source, the Duchess of Sussex, 43, thought the Princess of Wales, 43, was “too much a goody-two-shoes girl.”
In an extract from Tom Quinn’s book, Yes Ma’am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants, which was serialised in The Times, Meghan thought Kate was “just too eager to please”.
The royal author wrote: “All the royal staff I spoke to agreed that Meghan must have felt she was slightly looked down on by the courtiers.
“Some people can cope with this — Kate Middleton is perhaps the supreme example — but others try to fight back, which is what Meghan clearly did. ‘You’ve got to hand it to her,’ a former member of her staff said. ‘She really is a fighter.’”
In his book, which will be published on February 18, Tom claimed that Kate has managed to “negotiate difficult matters with staff and family relationships”.
According to a former member of the Kensington Palace staff, this is due to the Princess of Wales being someone who “slowly and carefully absorbs the atmosphere of a place”.
The source added: “She doesn’t jump in straight away and try to change everything to suit her way of thinking. She bides her time and is very intelligent and intuitive about other people, what they do and how they behave.
“She was also coached — not just by William, who wanted Kate to avoid the problems his mother had encountered, but also by the staff.”
They claimed that Kate is happy to accept advice from more junior staff, who she gets on well with, and also from courtiers, despite them being initially snooty with her.
The source said that “Kate is actually a much stronger person than Meghan in many ways”, and said that where the Duchess of Sussex felt Kate was being pushed around, the Princess of Wales saw it as an “essential” part of the royal family.
Any tension between Meghan and Kate developed over time, according to Tom, as initially both William and Kate found her to be “delightful”, according to a former staff member.
They claimed that the Prince and Princess of Wales found the former Suits actress to be a “breath of fresh air”.
One example of their bonding came when she witnessed Meghan and William doing a fun parody of Fifties jiving together.
However, a rift is said to have arisen early on, particularly due to Meghan’s tactile approach with everyone, including William.
“Meghan hugged him virtually every time they bumped into each other,” the Times reports.
Other claims by staff include Meghan “expected a billionaire” but “got a millionaire” with Prince Harry and that she thought royal life to be “castles, glittering balls and limitless wealth”.
Meanwhile, insiders also said Meghan “really disliked the hierarchy” and thought senior royals “behaved like babies”.
Kate and Meghan’s dress feud
In the lead-up to Meghan’s royal wedding, it was reported that the bride-to-be and Kate had a disagreement that ended in tears.
The fallout between the two soon-to-be sisters-in-law came after alleged disagreements surrounding Meghan’s choice of the flower girl dresses.
It was claimed Meghan left Kate in tears over her demands for Princess Charlotte’s dress, an episode backed up by royal biographer Tom Bower.
Some people can cope with this — Kate Middleton is perhaps the supreme example — but others try to fight back, which is what Meghan clearly did
Former royal staff member
But, in an explosive tell-all chat with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan later claimed it was Kate that made her cry just days before her wedding.
In other bombshell claims…
- Meghan was branded Mystic Meg by staff for turning Harry into “tree-hugging leftie”
- Ex-staffer claiming Meghan had a “messiah complex”, and thought senior royals “behaved like babies”
- Meghan “expected a billionaire & got a millionaire” with Harry
- Duchess’ close friendship with junior staffer being seen as “inappropriate” by senior royals
- Meghan thought Kate was “too much a goody-two-shoes girl” before fallout, according to royal sources
- Prince Andrew demanded a staffer be transferred “because he disliked a mole on the man’s face”
- Duchess “really disliked the hierarchy” and wanted to “finish Princess Diana’s work on a part-time basis”
The Duchess claimed the confrontation had “really hurt my feelings” and was a “turning point” in their relationship, adding: “I don’t think it’s fair to her to get into the details of that because she apologised, and I’ve forgiven her.”
Meghan told Oprah during the interview that it wasn’t the flower girl dresses argument that upset her but the lack of response from the royal family when false reports came out that she was the one who made Kate cry.
Speaking to Oprah, Meghan said: “What was hard to get over was being blamed for something not only I did not do, but that happened to me.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped down as senior working royals in 2020 and now live in California with Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three.
The last time Meghan visited the UK was for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022.
During the trip, Meghan did a walkabout with Prince William, Prince Harry and Princess Kate outside Windsor Castle.
The once-dubbed ‘Fab Four’ hadn’t been pictured together as a four since Harry and Meghan’s final day as working royals in 2020, when they attended the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey.
