Meghan Markle and Prince Harry jockey for attention as Prince William, Kate Middleton make history in U.S.
Royal experts claim the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are attempting to steal the spotlight from the Prince and Princess of Wales. Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton are on their first U.S. trip in eight years.
Kate Middleton showed off her soft side this week, embracing two people at separate official events, countering Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s claims she is standoffish.
The Princess of Wales met with British Army Officer Cpt. Preet Chandi during a visit to a school in Derby Wednesday, pulling the solo Antarctic record breaker in for a hug.
The next day, Kate had a chance meeting with one of her former prep school teachers in a crowd outside a museum during an official visit to Cornwall.
"The things you taught me I now teach to my children," she told Jim Embury after embracing him.
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Kate Middleton hugged Antarctic explorer Cpt. Preet Chandi, left, Wednesday and her former school teacher Jim Embury Thursday. (Karwai Tang/WireImage / Arthur Edwards/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
The Duchess of Sussex said in her Netflix docuseries "Harry & Meghan," that premiered in December that she hugged the Prince and Princess of Wales the first time they came over for dinner. "Like I was a hugger, always been a hugger," she said. "I didn't realize that that is really jarring for a lot of Brits."
Meghan claimed she had originally thought the royals were formal just when in public but soon realized "that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside."
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Prince Harry also wrote about several instances in his memoir "Spare" that portrayed William and Kate as aloof, including a visit to the Cambridges’ home shorty after his marriage to Meghan. He claimed Kate angrily told Meghan she was upset with her for talking about her hormones, saying she wasn't close enough to her to talk about that.
Catherine, Princess of Wales, hugs Charlotte Bunton after receiving flowers at St. Thomas Church Sept. 27, 2022, in Swansea, Wales. (Matthew Horwood/Getty Images)
Harry claimed that William told Meghan that Britons don’t talk about hormones, and Meghan apologized.
"We all hugged. Kind of," he wrote.
Despite those claims, a friend of the princess told People magazine, "Kate's a big hugger. She is warm and friendly and greets everyone with a big hug and kiss. It comes naturally to her to be like that."
Kate Middleton hugs a member of the public on the Walk at Windsor Castle Sept. 10, 2022, in Windsor, England. (Chris Jackson/WPA Pool/Getty Images)
The princess was also seen over the last few months doling out hugs while on her royal duties. She embraced a 2-year-old girl named Charlotte (like her own daughter), whom she met in Wales.
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Kate is sometimes restrained by royal protocol, which generally frowns upon too many public displays of affection.
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