Prince William and Kate Middleton can probably breathe a slight sigh of relief because Meghan Markle and Prince Harry didn’t speak about them all that much during the first three episodes of their docuseries, Harry & Meghan.
But the Cambridges did come up briefly when Meghan chatted about meeting them for the first time at Prince Harry’s Kensington Palace cottage—and implied they weren’t on board with her going in for a hug. (To be fair, Meghan said that hugging can be jarring for a lot of British people, not just them!)
“Even when Will and Kate came over, and I met her for the first time, they came over for dinner, I remember I was in ripped jeans and I was barefoot,” Meghan said. “Like I was a hugger, I’ve always been a hugger. I didn’t realize that that is really jarring for a lot of Brits. I guess I started to understand really quickly that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside.”
I mean, Wills and Kate don’t exactly seem like the “hi lemme hug you” types. On the other hand, the Sussexes and Cambridges are known to have a tense relationship, so Meghan’s comment about their first meeting being less-than-warm isn’t a huge shock!
Meanwhile, Kate and William haven’t released a formal comment about the Sussexes’ docuseries just yet, but royal reporter Rebecca English tweeted this: “There are a lot of claims today about how BP will react to Harry & Meghan’s Netflix series. Some suggest it will be ‘swift and robust’. Actually, it will be calm and measured. No one is rushing into anything. This is about family, not just an institution.”
Read what others have to say:
Beth
Harry would have told Markle not to hug them, but she insisted on trying to invade their space anyway. Then years later, she uses it against them, by making them out to be cold and unfeeling compared to her, the “warm and huggable princess”. I’m a 6th generation American of German descent. My family doesn’t hug either, and if someone is told that we don’t like hugging but does it anyway, well, in our family we jokingly call that “assault”. Bottom line, she manhandled them, and now tries to make herself the victim of their “coldness”.
Lyn
I’m American and have a lovely relationship with my English in-laws but we don’t hug. I think they would find it very off-putting. They are not stuffy or stiff, it is just the English way and there’s nothing wrong with it. When we meet, we kiss on both cheeks as do most English people. I don’t think William and Catherine should be criticized and thought to be less than warm for what is the typical English social norm.
Sophie
Yeah, sounds like there was no clue about cultural differences and not a lot of tolerance for understanding said differences….
Austin
What’s totally disturbing is that she keeps referring to American ppl being able to relate to the off-the-wall things she does. I saw 2 clips on the news today. From hugging ppl you don’t know to the curtsy. She stated she was sure American ppl would relate & something about medieval times, giggling like a child, making weird bowing gestures & almost an eye roll. So totally full of herself. She was arrogant, belittling & disrespectful. That shows she has little intelligence & absolutely no class. She reminded me of a class clown. Harry was even looking at her like she was grossly overplaying it until she gave him a glare. She acts like an uneducated nut. This is not representative of all Americans, she’s not a good example of Americans, & I would appreciate it if she quit referring to Americans in order to make herself appear normal when her behavior is far from typical of all Americans. She should speak for herself instead of using the American ppl as a crutch. This is supposed to be a strong, independent woman?? She can’t even make a statement without making excuses & dragging others into it. She’s a spoiled little pompous ungrateful brat not representative of my America.
Discerning
I wouldn’t be very keen either on hugging a barefooted stranger in ripped pants. Markle has no class and no dignity.
