Meghan Markle reveals 'jarring' first interaction with Kate Middleton

Meghan Markle once recalled her first ever meeting with her sister-in-law Kate Middleton - and the one thing the Duchess of Sussex did that she didn't realise was 'jarring for a lot of Brits'.

Meeting the in-laws is a nerve-wracking experience for anyone as let's face it, we all want to make a good impression with out other-half's family.

Nevermind when you're meeting and entering into the literal Royal Family - now that adds a whole new level of pressure most people can't relate to.

On top of this, it's no secret that Brits and Americans have quite a few differences, including humour, with those of us in the UK being a bit more reserved than those in the US.

So, what exactly did Meghan do? Well, the royal couples first met back in 2016 when Prince William and Kate were invited over to have dinner at Nottingham Cottage by Harry and Meghan.

Meghan Markle recalled the first time she met Kate Middleton (Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

In his 2023 bombshell memoir Spare, Harry recalled how Meghan cooked and that everything seemed to be going well as they chatted about Wimbledon and Meghan's legal drama Suits.

However, during the Duke and Duchesses documentary Harry&Megan, which was released back in 2020, Meghan expressed her surprise at just how formal the Royal Family were behind closed doors.

In the second episode, she explained: "I met her [Kate] for the first time, I think we went for dinner, I remember I was in ripped jeans and barefoot. I was a hugger, I've always been a hugger, I didn't realise that that was jarring for a lot of Brits."

As footage of the Prince and Princess of Wales appeared in the background, Meghan continued: "I started to understand that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside, that there is a forward facing way of being, and then you close the door, I can relax now. But that formality carries over on both sides and that was surprising to me."

During that first meeting, Harry also noted one big difference between his wife and sister-in-law - what they chose to wear.

The two women were also dressed quite different for the meet up (Karwai Tang/Contributor)

He wrote in Spare: "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.

"Meg: ripped jeans, barefoot. Kate: done up to the nines. No big deal, I thought."

However, one thing they did have in common is that Kate and William were apparently huge fans of Suits, which Megan starred in for seven seasons, from 2011 to 2018, playing the character Rachel Zane.

Harry penned: "Their mouths fell open. They turned to each other. Then Willy turned to me and said: 'F*** off?'. I was baffled, until Willy and Kate explained that they were regular - nay, religious - viewers of Suits."

He then joked: "'Great,' I thought, laughing. I've been worrying about the wrong thing. All this time I'd thought Willy and Kate might not welcome Meg into the family, but now I had to worry about them hounding her for an autograph."