Insiders reveal what Meghan Markle really thought of Kate – as she also made jokes about Prince Harry and William having different parents

Meghan Markle made ‘jokes about Harry having different parents to William’ during her time in the royal household, insiders have claimed. 

In a bombshell new book, due to be published on February, royal expert Tom Quinn includes claims of what the Duchess of Sussex, 43, really thought of Kate and other senior royals – according to accounts from former royal servants. 

Meghan’s time in the royal family was controversial as she broke traditions through her love of hugs, was branded ‘Duchess Difficult’ for her treatment of staff, and eventually stepped down as a senior royal with her husband Prince Harry in 2020. 

And, according to members of staff at Kensington Palace, Meghan would also ‘make jokes’ about William and Harry having different parents – as her husband was so ‘spontaneous and chill’ compared to his ‘serious’ older brother. 

She was also said to have thought senior royals ‘behaved like babies’ and held the view that her sister-in-law Kate was a ‘goody two shoes’.  

In an extract from Yes Ma’am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants seen by FEMAIL, a staffer recalled Meghan asking, ‘Why do William and Charles sound so serious all the time?’ 

They added: ‘She used to make jokes about Harry not having the same parents as William, as, she insisted, “Harry isn’t pompous at all. He’s chill.”’ 

Meanwhile, a member of the Palace’s communications team added, ‘Meghan thought Kate was just too eager to please, too much a goody-two-shoes girl.’

Insiders added that, in turn, Kate’s view of Meghan was ‘implied rather than spoken’. 

They shared that the two women took very different attitudes to being in the royal family – as Kate accepted being told what to do came with the territory. 

Meanwhile Meghan wanted to make her own mark, and be more independent.  

A former Kensington Palace staffer shared: ‘In many ways it was just the same as the kind of backbiting gossipy criticism that Meghan had to put up with, but Kate is actually a much stronger person than Meghan in many ways. 

‘Some people thought it wasn’t strength but a sort of passivity – that was one of the bugbears between Meghan and Kate. Meghan wanted Kate to be feistier and make her own mark. 

‘But what Meghan saw as Kate being pushed around, Kate saw as an essential part of being a member of the royal family.’

One member of Meghan’s team recalled that the Duchess was ‘absolutely charming – very informal, courteous and warm’ and would always go in for a hug. 

They added that that she thought senior royals ‘behaved like babies’ as if one got a ‘gold pen or new car’, they would all want one. 

She was also said to have thought senior royals ‘behaved like babies’ and held the view that her sister-in-law Kate (pictured in 2018) was a ‘goody two shoes’

Meghan is pictured with Charles, William, Kate and Harry on Christmas Day in 2018

The insider said: ‘She really disliked the hierarchy, the rules, many of which do seem pretty pointless and exist really only so that the relative status of each senior royal is protected.’

Elsewhere in his book, Quinn refers to Meghan’s ‘messiah complex’, which he claims led her to clash with Palace staff – but Prince Harry would always rush to her defence. 

A former member of Harry and Meghan’s staff told Quinn: ‘I don’t mean that in a critical way because all her big ideas were about doing good. 

‘She once said, “What Diana started I want to finish,” and we took that to mean she wanted to become a sort of globetrotting champion of the poor and the marginalised,’ the ex-staffer continued, referring to Meghan’s late mother-in-law, the Princess of Wales. 

Palace staff also highlighted Harry’s ‘tendency to defend anything and everything Meghan does’ when his wife clashed with royal aides 

Before Harry met the former Suits actress, courtiers noted, he had been ‘reasonably happy’ and ‘pretty easy-going’, and enjoyed a close relationship with his older brother Prince William and sister-in-law Kate. 

At the same time, there were concerns about what Harry was going to do after completing his military service, with one courtier claiming the younger son of King Charles ‘was always a problem’. 

Senior advisers knew that Harry was never going to be happy navigating the royal round partly because he was easily frustrated with ‘all the handshaking and small talk’ but also due to his resentment at being the Spare. 

Prince Harry was ‘waiting for a woman to mould him’ before he met Meghan Markle and cherished the ‘possibility of freedom’ she brought to his life, a new book has claimed

Palace staff also highlighted Harry’s ‘tendency to defend anything and everything Meghan does’ when his wife’s ‘messiah complex’ led her to clash with aides

 When he met Meghan – an actress who was best known for her role on NBC’s legal drama Suits – there was renewed hope within the walls of Buckingham Palace that she would keep Harry ‘out of trouble’ and ‘give him something to focus on’. 

Members of the old guard at the palace weren’t particularly concerned that Meghan, who was born in the United States, was a so-called outsider because Harry was ‘never going to be King’. 

‘They thought he’d just go away and have children at Windsor or wherever and be happy,’ one former member of Kensington Palace’s staff told Quinn. 

However, it soon became clear Meghan’s aspirations for her life as a senior member of the Royal Family was starkly different to what the Palace had planned for her and Prince Harry. 

One of Queen Elizabeth II’s former courtiers told Quinn that Meghan just ‘wanted to do her own thing’ and ‘felt constrained’ by the limits of her public-facing work as decided by the courtiers, senior staff members, and senior royals. 

However, Harry was so enamoured by the possibility of doing things differently, he staunchly defended Meghan when she butted heads with Palace officials. 

Meanwhile, one of Prince Harry’s military friends said he was ‘waiting for a woman to mould him’ before he met Meghan. 

After their marriage, one of Harry’s now-retired senior aides added, the Duke began to view his ‘core activity’ as ‘being with Meghan’ – rather than attending events like other royal family members – and ‘increasingly adopted her views’. 

Before Harry met the former Suits actress, courtiers noted, he had been ‘reasonably happy’ and ‘pretty easygoing’, and enjoyed a close relationship with his older brother Prince William and sister-in-law Kate

One former staffer also noted he was ‘far more concerned about social issues and the rights of minorities than he’d ever been before Meghan’s arrival’.

Elsewhere in the book, it is claimed that Meghan convinced Harry ‘he was being neglected, sidelined, and undervalued’ by the Firm, and felt that their Nottingham Cottage residence was a ‘reflection’ of how the Royal Family was ‘belittling’ him. 

Harry had lived in Nottingham Cottage on the grounds of Kensington Palace since 2013 and Meghan joined him there after the couple announced their engagement in 2017. 

They later moved into Frogmore Cottage in Windsor at the beginning of 2019 before the birth of their first child, Archie.

Prince William and Kate also lived in the two-bedroom property from 2011 until 2013 and moved to Kensington Palace when their son, Prince George, was a few months old. 

A member of Meghan’s communications team also told Quinn that she instantly noticed her husband ‘wasn’t quite as central to things’ as Prince William – but Harry had never given much thought to the fact that he was a spare ‘until well into his marriage’. 

‘It was only when he began to feel that he was being treated as a second-class citizen that the anger began to build up and then the rows – and there were a lot of rows – and the eventual split,’ a retired member of Kensington Palace staff said. 

Prince Harry and Meghan announced their decision to step down as senior royals and move abroad on January 8, 2020 – triggering a family schism that was quickly dubbed ‘Megxit’.

The book by Tom Quinn also suggested the American former actress’ tactile manner made the heir to the British throne ‘uncomfortable’. Picture, Prince William and Meghan greeting one another in April 2018

‘After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution,’ the couple posted to their now-defunct joint Instagram account.

‘We intend to step back as “senior” members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen,’ the statement read. 

In his book, Quinn also touched upon the Prince and Princess of Wales’ relationship with Meghan, noting her ‘warm, hug-friendly approach’ made William ‘uncomfortable’. 

He added that the Duchess’s ‘hugging and cheek-kissing fuelled gossip among the staff that Meghan was flirting with William’. 

‘She was obviously not, but the tense atmosphere caused by all the touchy-feeliness (and the resultant gossip) deepened the rift between the brothers,’ claimed Mr Quinn.

His book, published on February 18, offers a glimpse of the Royal Family from the staff members who have served them.

Yes, Ma’am – The Secret Life of Royal Servants by Tom Quinn, published by Biteback, £20.