While Prince William and Princess Kate have not publicly spoken about their first interactions with Meghan Markle, Prince Harry claimed they were “speechless” when they found out who he was dating.
According to Prince Harry, his brother William and sister-in-law Kate were big fans of Suits and were shocked to discover that actress Meghan, 43, was the one who had caught Harry’s attention.
Talking about their reactions in his memoir Spare, the Duke of Sussex said the couple were “open-mouthed” when they found out he was dating the actress.
However, while they were taken aback, the prince also said that Meghan’s occupation made the couple sceptical, with William reportedly warning: “When all’s said and done, Harold, she’s an American actress, anything could happen.”
As well as suggesting Prince William was hesitant about Meghan from the start, Prince Harry – who quit royal life in 2020 – also revealed that his brother was a bit startled around her when they first met in 2016.
In Spare, the prince went into details of the first meeting, saying his brother “recoiled” when Meghan tried to give him a hug as he didn’t often hug strangers. Princess Kate was believed to have been out with the children at the time.
On their Netflix docuseries Harry and Meghan, released in 2022, Meghan also said Princess Kate seemed to have a similar reaction when she tried to hug her.
She said: “Even when Will and Kate came over and I was meeting her for the first time I remember I was in ripped jeans, I was barefoot. Like I was a hugger, I have always been a hugger I didn’t realise that is really jarring for a lot of Brits.
“I started to understand 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 think “OK we can relax now”. But that formality carries over on both sides and that was surprising to me.”