Their relationship may be strained in recent years, but everything was different when Prince William first met Meghan Markle.

The relationship between Prince William and Meghan Markle has cooled following the revelations by Prince Harry and Meghan about their time in the royal family after they stepped down from their royal duties.

However, their relationship was much warmer during their initial meeting.

Meghan Markle began dating Prince Harry in 2016, and soon after, introduced the woman who would become his wife to his family members, including his older brother Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Details of this first meeting were revealed in Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand’s book, Finding Freedom.

When the future king met Meghan Markle, he made an unexpected comment. “I was looking forward to meeting the girl who has put this silly smile on my brother’s face,” Prince William reportedly said to Meghan.

Things, however, were more awkward with Kate Middleton, according to Meghan Markle.

Meghan Markle Reflects on First Meeting with Prince William and Kate Middleton

In their Netflix documentary, Meghan Markle recounted her first meeting with Prince William and Kate Middleton. “When William and Kate came over for dinner, I remember I was in ripped jeans and barefoot. I’m always warm with hugs. I didn’t realize that this 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. That formality continues on both sides, and that was surprising to me,” Meghan explained.

Prince Harry on Meghan’s Introduction to the Late Queen Elizabeth

In the same documentary, Prince Harry discussed Meghan’s first encounter with his grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II. “My grandmother was the first senior member of the family that Meghan met,” he revealed. “She had no idea what it all consisted of, so it was a bit of a shock to the system for her.”

Meghan’s Surreal Experience

Meghan described her surprise at the situation: “I mean, it’s surreal. There wasn’t, for example, some big moment of ‘Now you’re going to meet my grandmother.’ I didn’t know I was going to meet her until moments before,” she said. “We were in the car, driving to the Royal Lodge for lunch, and Harry said, ‘Oh, my grandmother’s here! She’ll be there after church.’ We were driving, and he says, ‘You know how to curtsy, right?’ And I thought he was joking,” Meghan recounted.

Cultural Differences and First Impressions

Reflecting on their cultural differences, Prince Harry continued, “How do you explain that to people? How do you explain bowing to your grandmother? Especially to an American, well, that’s weird,” Prince Harry described.

Meghan Markle eventually met and bowed to Queen Elizabeth. “It was so intense. When she left, Princess Eugenie and Fergie told me I did great. I said, ‘Thank you? I didn’t know what I was doing,’” Meghan recounted.

Prince Harry later noted, “I remember my family meeting her for the first time and being impressed. They were surprised. Maybe they were surprised that a ginger could land such a beautiful and intelligent woman.”