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TL; DR: 

  • Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton attended Wimbledon together in 2018.
  • They were seen smiling, laughing, and, according to a lip reader, talking about sleep. 
  • Meghan Markle later said, “It’s nothing like what it looks like,” when asked about Wimbledon with Kate Middleton as well as royal life.

Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle are two of many British royals to attend Wimbledon. Most notably, the pair sat courtside after the Duchess of Sussex’s royal wedding to Prince Harry. They chatted during the match, with a lip reader decoding a snippet of their conversation. Spoiler: it had to do with sleep. Years later, Meghan revisited her Wimbledon outing with the Duchess of Cambridge, saying it wasn’t what it seemed.

Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle went to Wimbledon together in 2018

Meghan and Kate’s Wimbledon appearance happened in June 2018. They attended day 12 of the tournament, watching not one but two matches. 

The Duchesses of Sussex and Cambridge watched Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal compete in a men’s semifinal match. They also watched Meghan’s friend, Serena Williams, play Angelique Kerber in the women’s final.

The outing marked Meghan’s first solo appearance with Kate since officially joining the British royal family. However, it wasn’t her, or Kate’s, first time at Wimbledon. Both had previously attended the tournament. 

Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton talked about sleep, according to a lip reader

Speaking to the UK’s Sun in 2018, a lip reader said Kate seemed to say, “It makes such a difference if you’re trying to get a good night’s sleep.” To which Meghan replied, “I tried to, it doesn’t take much, the question is does it work with the children?”

At the time, Kate had only given birth to Prince Louis, now 4, just months earlier on April 23, 2018. Meanwhile, Meghan and Harry wouldn’t become parents until 2019 with the birth of their now-3-year-old son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. 

Meghan and Kate’s body language at Wimbledon was also examined, with the women appearing to be “enjoying the moment” amid genuine smiles. 

Meghan Markle touched on attending the tennis tournament in a 2021 Oprah interview

Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, who asked Kate Middleton a question at Wimbledon, clap at Wimbledon in 2018
Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle | Michael Steele/Getty Images
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In between the bombshells Meghan dropped during her and Prince Harry’s 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview, she also revisited going to Wimbledon with Kate. 

Oprah asked Meghan if she felt “welcomed by everyone” when she joined the royal family, citing her relationship with Kate. “Did you feel welcomed by everyone? It seemed like you and Kate at the Wimbledon game where you were going to watch a friend play tennis — was it what it looked like?” Oprah said.

“You are two sisters-in-law out there in the world, getting to know each other,” Oprah added. “Was she helping you, embracing you into the family, helping you adjust?”

“I think everyone welcomed me,” Meghan replied. “And, yeah, I know you say, ‘Was it what it looked like?’ My understanding and my experience for the past four years is that it’s nothing like what it looks like. It’s nothing like what it looks like.”

While Meghan and Kate’s Wimbledon appearance may have not simply been a day out for the two royals, they attended the tournament in 2019, which produced similar photos of them smiling and laughing, alongside Kate’s sister, Pippa Middleton. 

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