Prince William’s First Words to Meghan Markle When They Met

Prince William apparently had some very sweet words for Meghan Markle when they met. According to a royal biography, the Prince of Wales, 42, who no longer speaks to his brother and sister-in-law, didn’t start with hello. Instead, he remarked how much he’d been “looking forward” to meeting the Duchess of Sussex, 42. Ahead, what William said to Meghan when Prince Harry introduced them. Plus, how Meghan “freaked” William out when they met.

He admitted to ‘looking forward’ to meeting Meghan

In Finding Freedom , authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand revealed what William’s first words were to Meghan when the Duke of Sussex introduced them in 2016.

“I was looking forward to meeting the girl who has put that silly grin on my brother’s face,” William told his future sister-in-law (via Mirror ). At the time, Harry and Meghan had already been dating for some time following back-to-back dates in London, England, in July 2016 and a trip to Botswana.

They met at William and Kate Middleton ’s Kensington Palace home before the brothers left for a “shooting trip,” Harry recalled in Spare , his 2023 memoir.

At the time, the Princess of Wales, 42, was “out” with the couple’s children; Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6.

Meghan’s introduction to William happened after she had an unplanned meeting with Harry’s grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II , at the Royal Lodge, the home of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson , following a quick lesson on curtsying .

William ‘recoiled’ when Meghan hugged him

Harry shared more details of how Meghan and William met, admitting along the way he’d felt more “nervous” about introducing Meghan to his brother than the queen.

“The door opened and there was my big brother, a bit dressed up. Nice trousers, nice shirt, open collar,” Harry wrote.

Then came a “classic collision of cultures” when Meghan “leaned in and gave him a hug.” It “completely freaked him out,” Harry recalled, noting William immediately “recoiled.”

“Willy didn’t hug many strangers. Whereas Meg hugged most strangers,” he explained. “The moment was a classic collision of cultures, like flashlight-torch, which felt to me both fun and charming.”

“Later, however, looking back, I wondered if it was more than that,” he continued. “Maybe Willy expected Meg to curtsy ? It would’ve been protocol when meeting a member of the royal family for the first time, but she didn’t know, and I didn’t tell her.”

“When meeting my grandmother, I’d made it clear—this is the queen. But when meeting my brother, it was just Willy, who loved Suits .”

Harry went on to say William quickly “got over” Meghan’s hug and that his now-wife and brother “exchanged a few warm words.”

Meghan on meeting Kate for the first time

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In Harry & Meghan , the December 2022 Netflix docuseries on the couple, Meghan recalled meeting her future sister-in-law when William and Kate had dinner at Nottingham Cottage.

“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,” Meghan said. (Harry recalled noticing the difference in attire in Spare .)

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

At the time, she thought the royal family had a “forward-facing way of being, and then you close the door, and you relax now. But that formality carries over on both sides. And that was surprising to me.”