Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton Dubbed ‘Inverted Versions of Each Other’ By Historian
A historian says Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle are “inverted versions of each other.” How they both grew up in “very different” environments with varying “values.” Plus, what stood out to Prince Harry about the royal women when they met.
Kate and Meghan had ‘different’ upbringings in England and California
Sure, they both married into the royal family as commoners, but the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Sussex grew up in very “different” environments, according to historian Tessa Dunlop.
“Meghan comes from Hollywood, her dad was a reasonably successful lighting director,” Dunlop said (via OK! Magazine).
The now-41-year-old grew up in Los Angeles, California, living in the View Park-Windsor Hills neighborhood. She attended Immaculate Heart, a Catholic private school.
Meghan’s parents — Doria Ragland and Thomas Markle — divorced when she was six but remained on good terms during her childhood.
“But it’s a very different environment,” Dunlop continued. “Hollywood it’s about climbing over other people to get that role, to get the gig, to improve the rating to be better than the next one — that’s ambition.”
Meanwhile, Kate grew up in Bucklebury, Berkshire, England, with her siblings, Pippa and James. Over the years Kate’s parents, Carole and Michael, became successful business owners with their company, Party Pieces, with Kate attending boarding school.
According to Dunlop, Kate’s “values” differed from Meghan’s.
“Kate’s values were deference, appropriate levels of self-possession within a system,” she said. Not only that but also “don’t rock the boat, you make change through embracing the institution.”
“Almost, the paradox, Meghan’s the other way around—they’re totally like inverted versions of each other,” she added.
Kate Middleton joined the royal family ‘‘like a duck to water’ after years ‘in training’
The Princess of Wales officially became a member of the royal family when she married William on April 29, 2011. However, according to Dunlop, Kate’s “training” for royal life began “decades” earlier in her childhood.
“I think one of the problems is that we think, ‘Oh, you married for love and in the royal family’ but actually it’s a job as well,” the historian said. “And that’s where the rub comes and where Kate has managed so much better than Meghan.”
Kate, she explained, had “been in training for decades and I think that we don’t take that into account enough, sometimes, understanding why she entered this institution like a duck to water.”
Prince Harry noticed the ‘difference’ between Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle when they met
Although he longed to double-date with his brother and sister-in-law, Harry’s dream didn’t become a reality after meeting Meghan in July 2016. When Harry introduced Kate to his now-wife, he noticed a “marked difference” between the two.
“The only possibly discordant note I could think of was the marked difference in how the two women dressed, which both of them seemed to notice,” Harry said in Spare. “Meg: ripped jeans, barefoot. Kate: done up to the nines. No big deal, I thought.”
Other differences included Meghan being a self-described “hugger.” As she noted in Netflix’s Harry & Meghan docuseries and Harry in his memoir, the physical contact seemed to take both William and Kate by surprise.
Meghan recalled not realizing hugs could be “jarring for a lot of Brits” when talking about meeting Kate for the first time. Meanwhile, Harry remembered William, whom he’d introduced to Meghan first, looking “completely freaked” out when the former Suits star greeted him with a hug.
Bridesmaids’ dresses, borrowed lip gloss, and a “baby brain” comment also contributed to tension between Kate and Meghan.
