Meghan Markle & Kate Middleton Were Never Feuding, Per 'Finding Freedom'
According to new book Finding Freedom, the rumors regarding a feud between Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton were largely fabricated.
In an extract published in The Sunday Times, it's been revealed, "they were not at war with each other."
Reports of friction at a bridesmaid fitting for Meghan's royal wedding have also been dismissed as untrue.
Ahead of the release of new royal biography, Finding Freedom, The Times and The Sunday Times is publishing excerpts from the much-anticipated new book. Co-authored by BAZAAR's Royal Editor at Large, Omid Scobie, and fellow royal correspondent, Carolyn Durand, the new volume explores the events leading up to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's decision to step down as senior members of the royal family.
In the latest excerpt, Meghan's relationship with Kate Middleton is explored, and the rumors of a feud between the two duchesses, dismantled.
Scobie and Durand explained, "Meghan would agree with the assessment that the duchesses were not the best of friends. Their relationship hadn’t progressed much since she was Harry’s girlfriend. Although Meghan might have understood Kate’s wariness to strike up a meaningful friendship, they were still no closer by the time she was a fellow senior working member of the royal family and the wife of William’s brother."
They couldn't be described as close, "But they were not at war with each other either," Scobie and Durand said. "The truth was that Meghan and Kate just didn’t know each other that well." However, this distance did not translate into a high-scale royal feud, in spite of constant tabloid reports, according to the book's authors. In particular, Finding Freedom tackles some of the false reports, including the idea that Meghan made Kate cry at a bridesmaid fitting for the royal wedding.
"There were reports that, before the wedding, Meghan had left Kate in tears following a bridesmaid fitting for Princess Charlotte," the authors explained. "'Kate had only just given birth to Prince Louis and was feeling quite emotional,' a source said. There were reports that claimed Meghan’s 'strict demands' caused Kate to cry." However, it now transpires that these reports were made up, and as Finding Freedom details, "Several aides across the royal households now confirm that there was no fitting that left the Duchess of Cambridge in tears." But rather than dismissing the report as incorrect at the time, a Kensington Palace aide called Kate and Meghan "very different people," further fueling the unpleasant rumors.
Scobie and Durand even spoke to someone "who was at the mid-May wedding fitting and has never discussed before what really happened." This source described the reports of Kate crying "puzzling." "Some of the children weren’t co-operating, and there was a lot going on. Everyone tried to help where they could, but it’s never easy with kids at fittings. There were no tears from anyone," the source explained. "And in the end, the fitting was fine. Kate and Meghan were both a little stressed but professionals in the room, and there were other people there."
Sources also confirmed to Scobie and Durand their frustration that the palace didn't do more to set the record straight. As one revealed, "There are people, whether they work with the family or are members of the family, that know that a lot of this stuff isn’t true, and aren’t allowed to say anything, like that ridiculous story about Meg and Catherine and the bridesmaids’ dresses... That story was ridiculous and so false."
It would seem that Kate and Meghan were never in the war the press would have us believe but, rather, they simply weren't that close. As Finding Freedom explained, "Flowers for her birthday were nice, but Meghan would far rather have had Kate check in on her during the most difficult times with the press."
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