PRINCESS MUMS
Kate and Meghan’s bond
Mums with young children don’t often get to enjoy uninterrupted conversation with their girlfriends – let alone from the royal box of Wimbledon’s historic Centre Court. So when Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton – the Duchess of Sussex and the Duchess of Cambridge, respectively – stepped into those coveted seats on July 13, they relished every moment. Chatting alongside Kate’s younger sister Pippa, the royal mums “were genuine and sweet together”, says an insider. When the women’s faces briefly flashed on screen, they exchanged knowing looks before
bursting into laughter. And later, when Meghan’s friend Serena Williams lost her match, “Kate put her hand out and rubbed Meghan’s back to console her,” says a close observer.
It was a remarkably sweet moment between the two women, whom tabloids have cast as royal rivals ever since Meghan came on the scene in 2016. “It illustrated a warm relationship between these women who have young babies and are in similar situations in their lives,” says royal commentator Victoria Arbiter. In fact, just three days earlier the sisters-in-law had teamed up for a playdate – the first time Prince
“Kate and Meghan were genuine and sweet”
George, 6, Princess Charlotte, 4, and Prince Louis, 1, had all been together with their 2-month-old cousin Archie. “They’re each a little more relaxed,” says the insider. “They have more in common now.”
Just one year ago the women were in dramatically different places in their lives: Meghan, 37, a newlywed and a royal rookie; Kate, also 37, a seasoned queen-in-waiting and mum for the third time. As Meghan tried to navigate her new world and Kate juggled the demands of three young children, “there was undue pressure where the whole world wanted them to be best friends”, says the insider.
When that didn’t happen, reports of tension swept the headlines, especially after Meghan and Prince Harry, 34, moved from Kensington Palace – where Kate and Prince William, 37, live with their kids – to Windsor, about 40 kilometres away. Soon after, the couples announced a separation from their joint Royal Foundation charity. But that distance ultimately helped them reconnect, say several people in their circle, giving both couples a little breathing room and “allowing them more time to be like family” rather than colleagues, notes a royal source. “There is a sense of [Meghan and Kate’s] relationship strengthening.”
The new setup has also helped them focus on their specific roles in the royal family. “They all know what’s at stake, and William and Harry know that their grandmother in particular needs them to be on the same page,” says a friend.
The pressure was especially intense for Meghan, an American who left her friends, family and career in Hollywood to start a new life in England with Harry. “She pretty much arrived in the UK and went straight into learning how to be a royal,” says the insider. “Moving to a new country is not an easy
“They have more in common now”
thing. Then you multiply that it’s the royal family and comes with thousands of years of pomp and circumstance. Here she was planning her wedding, which anyone who has done it knows how stressful that is, while also immersing herself in a new country, a new family, a new life, all while living in a fishbowl.”
Kate, who dated William for nearly a decade before they wed in 2011, has now lived almost half her life in the royal spotlight and feels more sure-footed than ever. “You’re seeing more confidence from Meghan recently but also from Kate,” says the insider. Palace sources emphasise that there is room in the public space for their distinct strengths and interests to shine. “Coming from different backgrounds, I think, they have more the makings of a team than people imagined,” says longtime royals author Robert Lacey. “And they have a common interest as partners to these two men who are so crucial to the monarchy, along with their children.”
Those children, of course, help unite the young families even more. “Harry and William were very fortunate to have an incredibly robust friendship with their cousins growing up,” says Arbiter. “They’ll want to follow a similar mould with their children. The royal cousins are the only other people on the planet who understand this life. We’ll see that relationship and shared camaraderie as they get older.”
Kate and Meghan now both face the difficult job of raising their brood in the public eye while maintaining a sense of privacy – for both themselves and their children. “Meghan has struggled with the intensity of the spotlight,” says a source close to the royal household. “Although she is a former actress, this is on a different level.” And no-one understands the pressure Meghan is under more than Kate. “It is an isolated existence,” says the insider.
Motherhood itself can be the same, something Kate herself has acknowledged. “It is lonely at times, and you do feel quite isolated,” she has said. “But so many other mothers are going through exactly what you are going through.”
Adds Arbiter: “Babies are a great leveller. The minute you’re bonding over your stories and sleepless nights, suddenly all the stuff that mattered before doesn’t matter anymore.”