Prince Harry has claimed Prince William “shrewd from hugging” Meghan during their awkward first meeting.
In his bombastic memoir Spare, which hits shelves today, the Duke of Sussex, 38, described the moment he introduced his brother to his girlfriend as a “classic clash of cultures”.
The meeting took place at the Prince and Princess of Wales’ home in Kensington Palace in late 2016, just before Prince Harry and Prince William left on a filming trip.
The Duke explains how Meghan had previously met Princess Eugenie, her then-boyfriend Jack Brooksbank, the Duchess of York, Prince Andrew and the Queen.
Prince Harry introduced Meghan to Prince William in late 2016. Pictured: The Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in December 2017
Describing the short walk from Harry and Meghan’s Nottingham Cottage to Apartment 1A, the Duke admitted he was more nervous than anyone about his girlfriend William meeting.
When his brother answered the door, Harry said William was “a little smart” in smart trousers and a shirt.
He wrote: “I introduced Meg who leaned over and gave him a hug which freaked him out completely. He backed off.’
Prince Harry gave context to the awkward encounter, saying his brother wouldn’t normally hug anyone he doesn’t know.
Prince Harry says his brother ‘shrewd’ from Meghan’s hug when they first met at Kensington Palace. The two couples pictured in July 2018
In contrast, Harry explained that this is just Meghan’s way of greeting strangers.
He continued: “Maybe Willy expected Meg to curtsey? It would have been protocol to meet a member of the royal family for the first time, but she didn’t know and I didn’t tell her.
Elsewhere in the book, Prince Harry recounts that when they first met at Windsor Castle in 2016, he had to remind the then Suits actress that she needed to curtsey to the Queen.
However, the father of two didn’t feel the need for her to do that when she met William because he “loved suits.”
Prince Harry’s bombastic memoir Spare was released in the UK today. In the book, he describes his brother and wife’s first meeting as a “classic clash of cultures.”
Prince Harry says he didn’t ask his girlfriend to curtsey to his brother as he “loved suits”. Pictured: Meghan poses for a cast photo of Season One Suits
After “exchanging a few warm words” in the doorway, the Prince of Wales invited the couple into the flat – prompting Kate and William’s black cocker spaniel, Lupo, to bark.
When the couple asked about Kate, William told them she was traveling with their children, George and Charlotte.
After the brief meeting, Meghan returned to spend her first night alone at Nottingham Cottage while the brothers left for their filming trip.
During her Netflix special, Meghan admitted she didn’t know her “hugger” was “shocking” to some Brits, describing how she was barefoot when she first met Kate.
Meghan revealed she was barefoot and wearing ripped jeans when she first met William and Kate
Sharing her experience in the royal family, Meghan said she was “surprised” at how “formal” the family is in private.
She said: “Even when Will and Kate came over and I met them for the first time, I remember I was in ripped jeans, I was barefoot. As much as I’ve been a hugger I’ve always been a hugger I didn’t realize that’s really irritating to a lot of Brits.
“I started to understand that formality prevails from the outside in, that there’s a forward-thinking way of being, and then you close the door and you’re like, ‘OK, we can relax now’. But that formality carries over to both sides, and that surprised me.”
The Duchess of Sussex also recalled first meeting the Queen in 2016 in the second episode of the Harry & Meghan docu-series, which landed on Netflix last month.
The controversial clip – which unimpressed viewers called “disrespectful” of the late Queen – shows the mother-of-two re-enacting the extremely deep curtsey she made to Her Majesty at the Royal Lodge in Windsor.
Ahead of the meeting, Meghan said she was surprised to learn she had to bow to the Queen and previously said Prince Harry helped her practice a proper curtsy to meet a member of the royal family.
Meghan claimed she didn’t know how to curtsey properly before meeting the Queen in the couple’s Netflix documentary series, which released this month
Meghan recreated the extremely deep curtsey she gave the Queen in 2016 on screen while a petrified Prince Harry looked on. Viewers called it ‘disrespectful’
Meghan likened the “surreal” encounter with the late Queen to a trip to American themed dinner institution Medieval Times. She is pictured with the Queen in Chester in 2018
Ahead of the impromptu lunch in Windsor in 2016, Prince Harry said on the Netflix docuseries that he checked to see if his girlfriend knew how to curtsy in front of his grandmother.
Sharing her own experience of the day, Meghan then compared the meal to a trip to American restaurant franchise Medieval Times, and joked that she “didn’t know what she was doing” as she curtsied the Queen extremely deeply.
Describing her first meeting with the late monarch, Meghan said: “Now I’m starting to realize that this is a big deal. I mean, Americans will understand that.
“We have Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament. It was like this. I curtsied like I was like… “Nice to meet you, Your Majesty.”
“It was so intense. And then when she’s gone, Eugenie, Jack and Fergie say: “You did great!”. Many Thanks. I didn’t know what I was doing.”
Continue reading:
“He made it sound like Kate was trying to strangle Meghan!” Prince Harry is “determined to ruin the Princess of Wales’s reputation in his open-ended interview,” says RICHARD EDEN
Kate and Meghan ‘didn’t get along from the start’: Prince Harry tells Tom Bradby the Waleses ‘stereotyped’ his wife – and the ‘barrier’ was there before the two women clashed over bridesmaid dresses and hormones
Prince Harry confirms he and Meghan announced the Duchess’ pregnancy at Princess Eugenie’s wedding – and he ‘delivered’ Lilibet so was his ‘first sight she saw’.