There were high expectations for Princess Kate and Meghan Markle to form a strong bond, but Prince Harry describes an awkward encounter in his memoir.

There were high expectations for Princess Kate and Meghan Markle to form a strong bond after she began dating Prince Harry, but the Duke of Sussex has described an awkward encounter between the women in his memoir.

It occurred when the now Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended the Royal Foundation Forum in February 2018 with Prince William and Princess Kate, where all four royals discussed their charitable work. It was the first time the foursome had carried out an official engagement together.

Backstage before the forum, Prince Harry detailed an encounter between Meghan and Kate, when his wife asked to borrow the Princess of Wales’s lipgloss. Harry described the moment as a “small clash of styles”.

Harry wrote in his book, Spare: “Meg asked to borrow Kate’s lipgloss. An American thing. Meg forgot hers, worried she needed some, and turned to Kate for help. Kate, taken aback, went into her handbag and reluctantly pulled out a small tube.

“Meg squeezed some onto her finger and applied it to her lips. Kate grimaced. Small clash of styles maybe.”

During the event, Meghan had outlined the important work she hoped to get involved with in empowering women. She said: “With so many campaigns like MeToo and TimesUp, there’s no better time to continue to shine a light on women feeling empowered and people supporting them.”

She continued: “You’ll often hear people say, ‘Well you’re helping people find their voice’ and I fundamentally disagree with that, because women don’t need to find a voice. They have a voice, they need to feel empowered to use it, and people need to be encouraged to listen.”

For the event, on February 28, 2018, both Kate and Meghan both stunned in blue dresses, however their styles – and price tags – were exceptionally different.

Kate, who was heavily pregnant with Prince Louis at the time, donned the Royal Blue Tailored Maternity Dress from Seraphine which retailed at an affordable £109, showing that Kate can stun in relatable items as well as extravagant designer pieces.

The Duchess of Sussex, however, turned heads in a navy, mid-length number by Jason Wu. This was the Crepe Back Satin Belted Wrap Dress and retailed at $1,795 (around £1,591), as reported by Meghan’s Fashion. This makes Meghan’s chosen blue dress almost 15 times more expensive than Kate’s.

Harry’s memoir also offered a treasure trove of insights into the further dynamics between Kate and Meghan during Meghan’s time as a working royal.

He also claims that Meghan inadvertently ruffled feathers by suggesting Kate was suffering from “baby brain” due to her pregnancy with Prince Louis around the time of Harry and Meghan’s 2018 nuptials.

In a candid ITV interview with Tom Bradby, Harry acknowledged that his brother William and sister-in-law had difficulties warming up to Meghan “from the get-go.” The reasons Harry described included the royals’ unexpected reaction to him dating someone like Meghan, who enjoyed an acting career and he believed that both he and his family initially held certain stereotypes.