Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle may have put on a united front at their last public appearance together before the Sussexes left the Royal family – but the two women were never destined to be close.

The relationship between Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle has been notably distant. The divide between their spouses has only exacerbated the situation, leading to the Harry and Meghan’s near-complete separation from William and Kate, and the rest of the Royal Family.

It appears that a close connection between the two women was never in the cards. A royal commentator has suggested that Kate had doubts about Meghan from the beginning.

In the revealing tome ‘Battle of the Brothers’, Robert Lacey, who also serves as a historical advisor for The Crown, alleges that William harbored concerns about Meghan’s attitude towards the royal establishment, suspecting she had an “agenda”, and his wife “had been wary of Meghan from the start”.

Their first encounter occurred in 2017 when William and Kate dropped by for dinner. Although Meghan spoke highly of the Princess as “wonderful” during her engagement interview with Harry, she later admitted on their Netflix documentary series that their initial meeting was somewhat uncomfortable.

Meghan recounted: “Even when Will and Kate came over, and I had met her for the first time… They came for dinner, I remember I was in ripped jeans and I was barefoot. I was a hugger, always been a hugger. I didn’t realize that that is really jarring for a lot of Brits.”

She remarked: “I guess I started to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside. That there is a forward-facing way of being, and then you close the door and you go, ‘Oh, great. Okay, we can relax now.’ But that formality carries over on both sides, and that was surprising to me.”

In his telling 2023 memoir, Spare, Harry delved deeper into Meghan’s initial interactions with Kate, noting that she and William appeared to take kindly to his soon-to-be bride following an introduction at dinner.

“We’d had them over for dinner during one of Meg’s visits, and Meg cooked, and everything was good,” he penned. “Willy had a cold: he was sneezing and coughing, and Meg ran upstairs to get him some of her homeopathic cure-alls. Oregano oil, turmeric. He seemed charmed, moved, though Kate announced to the table that he’d never take such unconventional remedies.”

The prince also mentioned: “The only possibly discordant note I could think of was the marked difference in how the two women dressed, which both of them seemed to notice,” “Meg: ripped jeans, barefoot. Kate: done up to the nines. No big deal, I thought.”