Their husbands may still be struggling to overcome their multi-year rift, but Kate Middleton is apparently trying to extend an olive branch to her sister-in-law from overseas.
Ever since the birth of Meghan Markle’s second child, Lilibet Diana, the Duchess of Cambridge has been attempting to strengthen their familial bond, according to a source who spoke to Us Weekly. “Kate has been reaching out to Meghan a lot more since [Lilibet] was born, she’s sending [notes and] gifts and trying to build up a relationship,” they said. “The firm has been instructing staffers to reach out more to Harry and Meghan to get them to soften a bit.”
Kate and Meghan’s relationship has remained strained over the years—a dynamic which the Duchess of Sussex told Oprah during their sit-down interview in March was only made worse by the U.K. tabloids. She explained, “If you love me, you don’t have to hate her. And if you love her, you don’t have to hate me.” She also said that the “narrative” about how she made Kate cry before her wedding in 2018 was a reversal of how those events actually transpired. She explained, “A few days before the wedding she was upset about flower girl dresses and it made me cry. It really hurt my feelings. It was a really hard week of the wedding. And she was upset about something, but she owned it, and she apologized. And she brought me flowers and a note, apologizing.”
According to another source, the lack of a close connection between these two women has less to do with those types of misunderstandings and everything to do with their husbands’ ongoing quarrel. “They were never that close, but the reason they’re not speaking is because of the rift between Prince Harry and Prince William,” the insider explained. “Harry and William have communicated sparingly over the last year, but none of their communications have been friendly in quite some time. There is real animosity that the brothers have toward one another, and that has spilled over to Meghan and Kate’s relationship, making it very hard for them to be friends or even friendly.”
But with the arrival of baby Lilibet there are hopes all of that could change and the pair’s relationship will warm. Regarding the newborn, Kate told First Lady Dr. Jill Biden during their meeting in early June, “We haven’t met her yet. I hope that will be soon.”
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