The Duchess of Cambridge had little energy to bond with her sister-in-law to be Meghan Markle before her wedding due to a ‘difficult third pregnancy’, it is claimed in a new book.
Two months after Prince Harry and Meghan announced they were engaged and to be married, Kate and Prince William announced they were expecting a third baby, Prince Louis.
As a result, almost all of the wedding preparations took place when Kate was going through a third pregnancy.
And it was just four weeks before Harry and Meghan’s wedding date that Kate gave birth to Prince Louis.
According to royal expert Andrew Morton, who spoke to Mirror Online, this meant the two women had little time to become friends.
With an updated edition of his unauthorised biography, Meghan: A Hollywood Princess, due to be released next week, Andrew said: “Kate and Meghan were neither sisters nor, unlike Fergie and Diana, friends before they joined the Royal Family.
“What is more, during the build-up to Meghan’s wedding, Kate was experiencing her third difficult pregnancy and was focused on her own welfare. She did not have much energy to bond with her new neighbour.
“When they sat together in the royal box to watch the Ladies’ Singles Final at Wimbledon in July 2018, the two women were still getting to know one another. During the match, in which Meghan’s friend Serena Williams lost to Angelique Kerber, they chatted and clapped and cheered.
“Unlike Wimbledon 2016, when the cameras focused on Pippa Middleton and Anna Wintour and ignored the unknown American actor, this time they were fixated on the duo of duchesses.”
After their joint appearance at Wimbledon, reports surfaced that Kate was “left sobbing” amid a disagreement with Meghan at a bridesmaids’ dress fitting before the wedding. Princess Charlotte was one of the bridesmaids.
However, during her bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey earlier this year, Meghan said “the reverse happened” and she was left crying a few days before tying the knot with Prince Harry.
Claiming it would not be fair on Kate to go into details on what happened, Meghan simply stated during the tell-all chat there “wasn’t a confrontation” and an apology was made.
Andrew also claims after the Wimbledon appearance there was “little opportunity” for Meghan and Kate to develop a friendship “away from public events”.
He adds: “It was a practical matter as much as anything. Kate spent weekends and holidays at Anmer Hall, the Cambridges’ country home in Norfolk, while Meghan and Harry were approximately three hours’ drive away, living in a large, remote, rented property on the Great Tew estate in Oxfordshire.
“Harry’s dream of two united happy families seemed a long way off.”
Early last year, Meghan and Harry quit the UK and stepped down as senior royals, moving to California.
Meghan and Kate have not seen each other since she quit the royal family, while Kate has only seen Harry once - at the funeral of Prince Philip.
Andrew’s Morton’s updated version of Meghan: A Hollywood Princess is on sale online and in bookshops across the country from October 14.
