Meghan Markle had a special guest drop by her Windsor home this week.
On Tuesday, Hillary Clinton paid a visit to Frogmore Cottage and met Meghan, 38, for the very first time after being secretly invited to the London residence by the Duchess of Sussex, The Daily Mail reports.
A source confirmed to the outlet that the women shared a hug before spending the afternoon together, where they hit it off and even discussed a letter Meghan wrote to Clinton when she was 11 demanding to remove a “sexist” dishwasher soap advertisement.
“Both women have a lot of admiration for each other and it was a very sweet, warm meeting,” the source said. “They are mutual fangirls!”
Prince Harry and the royal couple’s seven-month-old son Archie also joined the ladies, with Clinton, 72, reportedly getting in some cuddles with the infant, while she chatted about her own grandson, Jasper, who made his arrival in July.
News of their meeting comes a few days after Clinton raved about Meghan while discussing the relentless attacks she’s been receiving from the British tabloids on BBC Radio 5 Live.
“Oh my God, I want to hug her!” Clinton told host Emma Barnett on Tuesday. “I feel as a mother I just want to put my arms around her. I want to tell her to hang in there, don’t let those bad guys get you down. Keep going, do what you think is right.”
The 2016 Presidential candidate — who is on a publicity tour for The Book of Gutsy Women, co-authored by daughter Chelsea, 39 — added that Meghan should be given a break because all she’s done is fall in love and look to raise a family.
“She has made her own way in the world,” Clinton told the BBC. “Then she falls in love, and he falls in love with her, and everybody should be celebrating that because it is a true love story. You can just look at them and see that.”
Clinton added, “You know, it’s not easy. And there are some techniques that can be learned along the way, some humor, some deflection, whatever, which I’m sure she will come to. But it is tough what she is going through. And I think she deserves a lot better.”
🗣️"Oh my God, I want to hug her!"
— BBC Radio 5 Live (@bbc5live) November 12, 2019
Former Presidential candidate and First Lady @HillaryClinton tells @EmmaBarnett she believes the treatment of Meghan has been “heart-breaking and wrong”
📲Read more: https://t.co/xYk0QchAUV
🎧Listen via @BBCSounds pic.twitter.com/ziBbWAGGQU
RELATED: Hillary Clinton on Meghan Markle: ‘Oh My God, I Want to Hug Her!’
Having been in the spotlight for decades, Clinton knows better than most what it’s like to have every aspect of your personal life raked over in public.
In Meghan’s case, the grandmother of three said she believes the criticism has been driven by a combination of sexism and racism, which she called “heartbreaking and wrong.”
“It takes some getting used to having your every move scrutinized and analyzed and, frankly, things made up about,” Clinton said. “I really wish her and her husband the very best because they are struggling to have a life of meaning and integrity in their own terms — and that’s hard enough if you’re just walking around in today’s world, but if you’re on that big a platform it’s really difficult.”
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Clinton added: “You know, people don’t choose who they fall in love with — they fall in love. And she is an amazing young woman. She has an incredible life story. She has stood up for herself.”
The former Secretary of State also echoed her sentiments in an interview with The Sunday Times last month, noting that “the way she’s been treated [by the British media] is inexplicable.”
“If the explanation is that she’s biracial, then shame on everybody,” she added, noting that she personally believed the Duchess of Sussex’s race is “certainly part of it.”
