Kate Middleton Once Offered Meghan Markle Flowers to Try to Repair Their Relationship—But It Wasn’t Enough - Vanity Fair

The Duchess of Cambridge “did little to bridge the divide” as relations became strained between an increasingly distant William and Harry in 2018, according to a new royal biography that sheds new light on Harry and Meghan’s first year of marriage and their shocking decision to quit the royal family .

According to the authors of Finding Freedom Kate, who has until now been widely been credited in the press as being the peacemaker between William and Harry, did not go out of her way to make friends with Meghan when she married into the royal family. Despite also being a commoner when she married William, there was apparently no meeting of minds between the duchesses, and a friendship never flourished, as revealed in the latest excerpt from the book published Saturday in the Times.

Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, friends of the Cambridges responded that the couple had “done all they possibly could” to welcome Meghan into the royal family, including Kate personally cooking vegan meals for Meghan during a visit to their home at Anmer Hall.

While Kensington Palace initially downplayed rumors that Kate and Meghan fell out, following reports that the two women did not get along, Finding Freedom authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand confirm through speaking to sources close to Meghan that the two women didn’t have much in common. According to the authors they “struggled to move past distant politeness” and had “nothing in common other than the fact that they lived at Kensington Palace.”

They recount an awkward moment when the two women crossed paths while living a stone’s throw from each other at Kensington Palace. Both were heading out to the same street for a shopping expedition, but Kate went one way in her own Range Rover, leaving Meghan to shop alone.

Meghan had apparently hoped that Kate would show her the ropes. But according to Scobie and Durand Kate, who was pregnant at the time with Prince Louis, was cool and distant with Meghan and did not go out of her way to make friends. “The truth was Meghan and Kate just didn’t know each other that well… Though it was not necessarily her responsibility, Kate did little to bridge the divide,” according to the authors. ‘She was fiercely loyal to her husband and his family.’

While the friendship was still by this point at an early stage, reports in the tabloids about the “dueling duchesses” upset both Kate and Meghan. While palace aides attempted to squash the story, briefing some royal reporters that the two women were in touch on the phone and via text, the story was nonetheless front page news.

Vanity Fair understands that at one point Kate attempted to rectify the situation by taking flowers to Meghan as a peace offering. While this anecdote is not detailed in Finding Freedom, Meghan (who according to Finding Freedom had accepted flowers from Kate in the past for her birthday) told Kate in no uncertain terms that flowers were not enough.

In late 2018 the Sussexes announced they were leaving Kensington Palace for Windsor, a move that appeared to give credence to unconfirmed reports that the Fab Four were more hostile than fabulous. According to the book, the Cambridges never visited the Sussexes at their new home at Frogmore House once.

While Harry’s feelings have never been laid bare before, the authors claim he was deeply saddened by the growing distance between him and his brother and sister in law ,having hoped that their children would grow up together.