Everything Meghan Markle Has Said About Kate Middleton—So Far

Since her romance with Prince Harry became public in 2016, there has been speculation about Meghan Markle's relationship with her sister-in-law, Kate, the Princess of Wales.

Reports of fractures between the royal wives of Windsor picked up in 2019, with accounts of Meghan making Kate cry before the royal wedding a year earlier, something which has since been disputed.

When Harry and Meghan announced their split from the monarchy in January 2020, the focus on the couple's relationship with Kate and Prince William intensified, reaching a fever pitch when they appeared in an exclusive interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021, speaking for the first time about their experiences within the monarchy.

For her part, Kate hasn't spoken publicly about Harry or Meghan since their move to the U.S., abiding by the royal adage of "never complain, never explain." This approach to dealing with issues has been contested by Harry and Meghan, who have repeatedly stated their desire to set the record straight on a number of issues.

Newsweek looks at what Meghan Markle has said on record about Kate, from an early blog post to the Netflix docuseries:

The Tig Post

One of Meghan's earliest on the record references to Kate came in a post on the duchess' blog, titled The Tig, in 2014, introducing a lifestyle interview she had conducted with Princess Alia al Senussi of Libya.

Meghan wrote that she had been introduced to the royal (two years before meeting Prince Harry) through her friend, photographer Misan Harriman.

In an archived copy of the blog, Meghan introduced the post with the point that "little girls dream of being princesses," and that growing up she had wanted to be like "She-Ra, Princess of Power" from the He-Man comic universe.

Going on to reference the persistent public interest in members of the world's royal families, Meghan used Kate as an example.

"Grown women seem to retain that childhood fantasy," she said. "Just look at the pomp and circumstance surrounding the royal wedding and endless conversation about Princess Kate."

Engagement Interview

In November 2017, Harry and Meghan announced their engagement to the world with a photocall in the grounds of Kensington Palace and an extensive joint interview broadcast around the globe.

During the conversation with British broadcaster Mishal Husain, both Harry and Meghan discussed the introduction of their relationship to members of the royal family, including Prince William and Kate.

"William was longing to meet her and so was Catherine," Harry said of Meghan.

The prince went on to add "Catherine has been absolutely...," with Meghan finishing the sentence with: "She's been wonderful."

In 2022, Meghan commented that the couple had felt unable to tell the real story of their relationship in their own words during filming, describing the engagement interview as a "rehearsed" and "orchestrated reality show." This was combatted by BBC bosses and Husain.

Royal Foundation Forum

Two months before Meghan and Harry's wedding at St George's Chapel, Windsor, on May 19, 2018, the couple joined William and Kate for an event discussing the work of the Royal Foundation.

At the time, the group were working with the foundation together, with Meghan being slowly introduced to the organization, which acted as a funding and expertise umbrella for the royals' collective charitable outputs.

The event saw the four royals take part in a panel discussion, marking the first time they had been seen together in such a way.

The forum is now regarded as being an example where cracks in the royal relationships began to appear in public, with Harry and William discussing disagreements and how they tackled them.

For Meghan, the event was an opportunity to reaffirm her working dedication to women's causes and charities, and she also commented on what it was like working with Kate, Harry and William.

"Thank goodness it's such differing personalities and that everyone's very communicative, because that's how you can really see bigger change," she said.

"If everyone's thinking the same way, how are you going to push the envelope? You know, how are you really going to break through in a different sort of mindset? Changing mindsets and all of that is part of this communication that we have constantly. So, I think it's part of the reason we've had so much success with Heads Together and whatever we end up working on moving forward."

Oprah Interview

Harry and Meghan's March 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey dominated news cycles with its bombshell revelations about the couple's life within the monarchy and what ultimately caused them to split from the royal family and move to California in 2020.

Among the sensational claims was the revelation that an unnamed member of the royal family had made racially insensitive comments about the skin color of the couple's future children, that King Charles had cut them off financially and that the palace had a secret agreement with the tabloid media.

The interview was a rare example where Meghan openly discussed her relationship with Kate as a sister-in-law and fellow non-royal who married into the monarchy.

Meghan openly denied tabloid stories that she had made Kate cry in an argument over Princess Charlotte's bridesmaid's dress before her wedding, saying: "The narrative with Kate—which didn't happen—was really, really difficult  and...I think that's when everything changed, really."

The duchess said the "reverse" of the story actually happened with Kate being the one to make her cry over the dress. "I don't say that to be disparaging to anyone, because it was a really hard week of the wedding and she was upset about something, but she owned it, and she apologized," she said.

"And she brought me flowers and a note, apologizing. And she did what I would do if I knew that I hurt someone, right, to just take accountability for it."

Meghan went on to say that the incident was not "a confrontation," but added that she didn't think it "fair to her to get into the details of that, because she apologized and I've forgiven her."

When asked by Winfrey if photographs of Meghan with Kate at Wimbledon together were as happy as they appeared, the duchess went on to say: "I think everyone welcomed me...When you say, 'Was it what it looked like?' my understanding and my experience of the past four years is it's nothing like what it looks like."

Later in the interview, Meghan also addressed her belief that the palace machine was willing to protect Kate from negative stories in the press, but not her. Speaking about the treatment faced by both women in the media and online, she commented: "I think so much of what I have seen play out is this idea of polarity, where if you love me, you don't have to hate her. And if you love her, you don't need to hate me."

She continued to address the negative attention she faced from the media and compared to Kate's, noting in an additional clip from the interview that the rudeness faced by Kate was not the same as the racism faced by herself.

"Kate was called 'Waity Katie,'" she said, in reference to the nickname given to Kate by the media in the course of her nine-year relationship with Prince William before becoming engaged.

"While I imagine that was really hard, and I do, I can't picture what that felt like, this is not the same. And if a member of this family will comfortably say 'We've all had to deal with things that are rude,' rude and racist are not the same."

The interview sent shockwaves through Buckingham Palace, provoking a rare rebuttal from Queen Elizabeth II who issued a statement to the press, saying that though the family were all "saddened" by Harry and Meghan's description of their experiences, the matters would be taken "seriously," and that in part "recollections may vary."

Netflix Special

In December 2022, Harry and Meghan released their eponymous six-part Netflix docuseries, charting their relationship and split from the monarchy.

Unlike in the interview with Oprah Winfrey, Kate wasn't referenced in any great detail in the show, with a focus being on the couple, William, Charles and Queen Elizabeth.

In one scene where Kate was mentioned, Meghan described being presented with a culture shock at their first meeting, which took place over dinner at Kensington Palace.

"It's so funny if I look back at it now, because now I know so much and I'm so glad I didn't then. Because I could just authentically be myself without so much preparedness," she said of her first introductions to royal life.

"Even when Will and Kate came over and I met her for the first time, they came over for dinner and I was in ripped jeans and I was barefoot," she continued, before suggesting that the royals may not have warmed to her informality.

"It's like I was a hugger, I've always been a hugger," she said. "I didn't realize that that is really jarring for a lot of Brits."

"I guess I started to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside carried through to the inside...that there is a forward-facing way of being and then you close the door, and you go 'Oh...ok we can relax now.' But that formality carries over on both sides and that was surprising to me."

Neither Kate nor Buckingham Palace responded to the claims made within the Netflix show.

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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