'WE WELCOMED THEM'
Kate & William ‘rolled out the red carpet’ for Meg & Harry as they hit back at claims pair felt shunned by Royal Family
KATE and William have hit back at claims made in an explosive new biography that they shunned Meghan Markle, with friends saying they "rolled out the red carpet" for her and Harry.
‘Finding Freedom’ claims relations between the Prince Harry and the US actress became so bitter that the Duchess of Cambridge snubbed Meghan during her farewell appearance as a senior royal.
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The book claims Meghan and Kate have never been friends. But close friends of William and Kate told the the couple had “done all they possibly could” to welcome her Royal Family.
According to the pals, the Cambridges “welcomed Meghan with open arms” by inviting her to Anmer Hall, their family home in Norfolk.
William and Kate also invited Meghan's friends, bridesmaids and page boys to a party before her wedding to Harry in May 2018.
Tennis fan Kate asked Meghan to join her in the Royal Box at Wimbledon for two successive years.
Sensational claims made in Finding Freedom include:
- Harry called William 'a snob' for the way he spoke about Meghan
- Meghan and Harry felt "cut adrift" and were frustrated at Prince William and Kate Middleton getting the 'plum' jobs
- The former actress moaned she had given up her life for the Royal Family
- Prince Harry compared fronting up to the royal institution to being in front of a firing squad
- The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were frustrated the Queen would not meet them earlier to discuss their demands
- Meghan was dubbed Harry's "showgirl" who "comes with a lot of baggage" by senior royals
“It's just completely wrong to suggest they didn't talk and plain wrong to say the Cambridges weren't welcoming,” said the friend.
“How can you say they weren't warm or welcoming when they hosted Meghan for Christmas, invited her into their totally private inner sanctum at Anmer Hall and did everything they could to make her feel at home?
“They personally cooked her favourite vegan food, they couldn't have been more welcoming.”
The book alleges the snubbed Meghan during the Sussex's final royal engagement on Commonwealth Day.
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“William and Kate sat with their backs to the couple, only turning around to chat with Prince Edward and Sophie, next to the Sussexes," said a source.
“While Harry and Meghan both greeted William and Kate with smiles, the Cambridges showed little response."
According to the book, the Duchess of Sussex was “disappointed” her fellow royal never reached out to her or visited.
The new extracts reveal they had tense and awkward moments, including one day when the women happened to cross paths at Kensington Palace in early 2017, when Harry and Meghan were still dating.
Both were heading to go shopping on the same street but Kate went in her own Range Rover, the book claims.
Kate & Meghan 'barely talked'
When she first began her relationship with Harry, Meghan had fully expected Kate to reach out and give her “the lie of the land” on what an outsider needed to know about dating a royal.
But Finding Freedom says that never happened and the pair never bonded.
The Duchess of Cambridge felt they didn’t have much in common “other than the fact that they lived at Kensington Palace”, said a source.
It also claims one stand-offish episode at a charity polo match was a snapshot of the pair's frosty relationship.
"Their cordial but distant rapport was apparent when the pair appeared alongside each other at the King Power Royal Charity Polo Day the previous summer.
"While the doting mothers were photographed next to each other with their children, the two appeared to barely exchange a word."
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Finding Freedom lifts the lid on Meghan and Prince Harry's decision to leave the Royal Family.
Harry, 35, and his 38-year-old wife now live in Los Angeles with their 14-month-old son Archie after stepping down from royal duties in March.
Harry 'angered by snobbish Wills'
The book also claims Prince Harry was angered by his older brother’s "snobbish" tone toward Meghan Markle when he referred to her as "this girl".
Their conversation reportedly came as the younger royal’s relationship with his future wife was blossoming.
“Don’t feel you need to rush this. Take as much time as you need to get to know this girl,” said William, according to a source.
The long-time family friend said the comments went down badly with an "incredibly sensitive” Harry.
Harry heard a "tone of snobbishness" that was "anathema to his approach to the world" in the words "this girl", the book claims.
“After all, these are two brothers that have spent their whole lives with people trying to take advantage of them,” the source said.
“They’ve both developed a radar to detect that type of person, but as William didn’t know a whole lot about Meghan, he wanted to make sure Harry wasn’t blindsided by lust.”
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William was motivated by a desire to protect his younger brother but his words caused a rift between the pair, the book says.
In the months after William talked to Harry about the relationship, the two hardly spoke.
Another source said: “Harry was p****d off. P****d that his brother would ask such a thing."
The brothers went from always making time for each other to spending barely any time together.
Harry and Meghan created headlines worldwide when they revealed they would be quitting the Royal Family in January, completing their final engagements just a few months later before moving to the US.
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The book says Harry and Meghan even considered driving straight to see the Queen after returning from Canada in January because they had failed to secure an appointment with the monarch.
Authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, described as cheerleaders for the pair, are said to have been given access to their inner circle to write Finding Freedom.
The duke and duchess have denied contributing to the book personally, saying they were not interviewed and it was based on the authors' own independent reporting.
The biography has now claimed to give an insight into Megxit decision - with it claimed Harry and Meghan were said to be furious at taking a 'back seat' to senior royals like Charles and William.
The Sussexes moaned they’d taken the monarchy to “new heights around the world” and were held back so they did not “eclipse” the family, it’s claimed.
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That led to the Sandringham summit with the Queen which formalised how the Sussexes would step down.
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It has previously been claimed Meghan would send emails at 5am to staff with her PA quitting after just six months in the role.
Harry, Meghan and baby Archie are now based at actor Tyler Perry’s £15million Beverly Hills mansion.
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