Meghan Markle Had "Unrealistic Expectations" for Her Relationship with Kate Middleton, Royal Expert Says

• Although there were rumors of a feud between Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton (opens in new tab) for years, royal insiders and sources have long insisted that there was no truth to the claims.
• In the new royal biography Finding Freedom: Harry, Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family, authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand confirm that Meghan and Kate were always "cordial" with each other, but that they weren't best friends and things were sometimes awkward. 
• In an interview for the Channel 5 documentary Meghan & Harry: The New Revelations, royal expert Katie Nicholl (opens in new tab) said the awkwardness may have stemmed from Meghan having "unrealistic expectations" of her friendship with Kate.

Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton's relationship (opens in new tab) was under a microscope from the moment the women met—if not before that, honestly. While there were rumors that the royal sisters-in-law didn't get along, talk of a full-on rift between the two were overblown, according to the new royal biography Finding Freedom: Harry, Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family (opens in new tab).

In the book, authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand write that, "Kate felt they didn't have much in common—other than the fact they lived at Kensington Palace" and "Meghan would agree with the assessment that the duchesses were not the best of friends. Their relationship hadn't progressed much since she was Harry's girlfriend."

Still, the authors insist that Kate and Meghan (opens in new tab) were never "at war" and that they were always cordial with each other, but that things were sometimes a bit awkward.

In an interview for the Channel 5 documentary Meghan & Harry: The New Revelations (opens in new tab), royal expert Katie Nicholl offered a possible explanation for the awkwardness.

"While there might have been an expectation from Meghan that Kate was going to sit down and show her the ropes, perhaps that was an unrealistic expectation," Nicholl said. "The Duchess of Cambridge is a busy woman but Meghan clearly took that quite personally."

Nicholl wasn't the only expert who discussed Kate and Meghan's strained relationship (opens in new tab) for the doc. Royal expert Russell Myers added, "They were very different women from very different backgrounds who were already going to have very different roles within the institution. The pictures of them laughing and joking together at Wimbledon was probably the best it was ever going to get."

Welp, there you have it.