The atmosphere between the Waleses and Sussexes has been described as “pretty toxic”.

Princess Kate pictured with Meghan in July 2019 (Image: GETTY)

Princess Catherine reportedly found Meghan Markle “abrasive” and always knew that the Sussexes would “part ways” with the Firm, an explosive new book has revealed. Catherine and Meghan are thought not to have been on speaking terms for a number of years, with their fractured relationship deepening after the Sussexes’ decision to step back from royal life in 2020.

As per an extract from his new book, titled William & Catherine: The Intimate Inside Story, which is set to be released later this month, the Daily Mirror’s Royal Editor, Russell Myers, revealed Catherine’s true feelings about Meghan. Mr Myers wrote: “Catherine, who had so long been a voice of reason in the brothers’ previous squabbles, decided she could do no more to bring them together.

“At first she had thought William and Harry’s squabbles were rooted in immaturity or stubbornness, on both sides, but Harry and Meghan’s attitude towards palace staff, who she and William cared about, set the couples on an entirely different course. Following Harry and Meghan’s wedding, things were undeniably different. William and Catherine felt the Sussexes had ‘an agenda’.”

William and Catherine will be released later this month (Image: Ebury Spotlight/Russell Myers)

Mr Myers continues: “They definitely thought the Sussexes’ behaviour stemmed from something more than being difficult.”

Shared by Mr Myers, the source also added: “The whole atmosphere between them was pretty toxic. Meghan was being bullish, Kate found her abrasive. She saw the inevitability of the parting of ways, although perhaps not to the extent of what eventually happened.”

Meghan started dating Prince Harry in 2016, but it wasn’t long until he popped the question in 2017. The loved-up couple then tied the knot one year later. During Harry and Meghan’s engagement interview in 2017, Meghan described Meghan’s first meeting with the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Harry told Mishal Hussein: “It was exciting I mean I’ve – you know I’d been seeing her for a period of time when I literally didn’t tell anybody at all.

Kate reportedly thought Meghan was ‘abrasive’ (Image: GETTY)

“And then William was longing to meet her and so was Catherine, so you know, being our neighbours, we managed to get that in a couple of – well, quite a few times now, and Catherine has been absolutely…”, to which Meghan commented: “Wonderful”.

A few years later, in 2022, Meghan spoke of her first time meeting William and Kate, she said: “When Will and Kate came over, and I met her for the first time, they came over for dinner, I remember I was in ripped jeans and I was barefoot.

“I was a hugger. I’ve always been a hugger, I didn’t realise that that is really jarring for a lot of Brits. I guess I started to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside.

“There is a forward-facing way of being, and then you close the door and go ‘You can relax now’, but that formality carries over on both sides. And that was surprising to me.”