Meghan Markle Says She Learned Reality of Royal Life After Hugging Kate and William

Meghan Markle is getting real about life as a royal in her and Prince Harry’s new Netflix docuseries, Harry and Meghan. Currently available for streaming, the series takes an in-depth look into the early days of their secret romance and Harry’s trauma from what his mother, Princess Diana, experienced at the hands of the tabloids. Not wanting his own wife to endure the same, they kept things private until they were set to wed. from there, it was a non-stop media frenzy. And the two say Meghan was vilified by the press, under constant scrutiny, and mistreated by royals to the point that she contemplated suicide. Not wanting a repeat of what happened with his mother, they famously relinquished their royal titles in a controversial move in 2020. One of the earliest memories Meghan has of a reality check was upon her first meeting with Prince William and Kate Middleton.

“When Will and Kate came over, and I had met her for the first time, they came over for dinner,” Meghan said in the series. “I remember I was in ripped jeans and barefoot. Like I was a hugger, always been a hugger,” she added. “I didn’t realize that that is really jarring for a lot of Brits.” Meghan admitted in several scenes that she was unaware of what was considered to be proper etiquette for that of a royal. 

“I guess I’d start to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside, carried through on the inside,” she continued. “There is a forward-facing way of being and then you close the door and you relax now,” she says she learned about life in public versus private. “But that formality carries over on both sides. And that was surprising to me.”

“It’s so funny if I look back at it now because now I know so much,” she said about what she learned from her three years as a royal. “And I’m so glad I didn’t then because I could just authentically be myself without so much preparedness.”