What Meghan Markle Always Did That Made Everyone Around Her Think She Was ‘Flirting’ With Prince William
Before Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tied the knot in 2018, she met the duke’s sibling, Prince William, and his wife, the Princess of Wales (formerly known as Kate Middleton). After the Sussexes stepped down the former Suits star spoke about that first meeting during the couple’s Netflix series Harry & Meghan.
In the second episode of the docuseries, the duchess talked about meeting William and Kate for the first time and the princess not wanting to hug her saying: “I was a hugger, always been a hugger. I didn’t realize that is really jarring for a lot of Brits. I guess I’d start to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside. There is a forward-facing way of being, and then you close the door and you relax now. But that formality carries over on both sides. And that was surprising to me.”
In his memoir Spare, Harry also shared tidbits of Meghan’s first encounter with his brother and sister-in-law and claimed that the future king “recoiled” when the duchess went in for a hug. The duke explained: “Willy didn’t hug many strangers. Whereas Meg hugged most strangers.”
Now, the author of a new book spoke to people who worked at the Palace when Meghan was there and said that her tactile mannerisms with William appeared “flirtatious.”
Palace staffers thought Meghan’s actions were her way of trying to ‘flirt’ with Prince William
In his new book Yes Ma’am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants, which was serialized by The Times, royal biographer Tom Quinn relayed what Palace staffers told him about Meghan’s habit of hugging that did not go down so well with equerries in the royal household.
According to Quinn’s book, “Meghan’s warm, friendly, hug-everyone approach” had the Palace rumor mill spinning and those who worked in the household making false claims that she was “flirting” with the prince.
The publication noted: “Meghan hugged him virtually every time they bumped into each other. The hugging and cheek-kissing fuelled gossip among the staff that Meghan was flirting with William, which she was obviously not, but the tense atmosphere caused by all the touchy-feeliness (and the resultant gossip) deepened the rift between the brothers.”
The duchess was said to be ‘hurt’ after her habit left royals ‘flinching’
Quinn said that it wasn’t just William and Kate, Meghan hugged other people in the household she came in contact with writing: “She even tried to hug a singularly stiff Old Etonian equerry. He too flinched as if she’d tried to poke him in the eye.”
The author added that another royal was taken aback too when Meghan tried to embrace them saying: “[King] Charles tended to flinch when she moved in for a hug.”
Quinn explained that “Meghan was understandably hurt, as everyone apparently hugs everyone in California.”
