The one royal gesture Meghan Markle will have to make when Catherine becomes Queen – and why it could make their frosty relationship even worse

The Duchess of Sussex and Princess Catherine have barely spoken to one another since September 2022, when the two couples gathered to view floral tributes for the late Queen Elizabeth II.

Royal expert Jennie Bond has claimed the tension between the two will only worsen once Princess Catherine eventually becomes Queen. 

Bond claimed the root cause of the fractured relationship stemmed from the power imbalance between the two, with Catherine being a more senior member of the royal family, as reported by the Daily Express.

“I think a key problem in any relationship between them is the power balance. Catherine is a future queen – she will always take priority over Meghan,” Bond told New Magazine.

According to Bond, the major pain point for Meghan will be that she will have to curtsy to Catherine once she becomes Queen, which is a gesture she is well-documented to find “absurd”.

“One day, the duchess will have to curtsey to her, and we know that Meghan finds that rather comically absurd,” Bond added. 

The former Hollywood actress played out the first moment she met the late Queen on the 2022 Netflix docuseries Harry and Meghan, admitting that when Harry told her she would have to curtsey, she thought it was a “joke”.

“I didn’t know I was going to meet her until moments before. We were in the car, and we were going to Royal Lodge for lunch, and [Harry] was like, ‘Oh, my grandmother is here, she’s gonna be there after church,’” Meghan said.

“We were in the car, driving, and he’s like, ‘You know how to curtsy, right?’ – and I just thought it was a joke.”

The mother-of-two also revealed the first time she met Kate, suggesting the formal nature of their first interaction foreshadowed the relationship that followed. 

“Even when Will and Kate came over, and I had met her for the first time, I was in ripped jeans, and I was barefoot,” Meghan recounted. 

“I was a hugger—I didn’t realise that that was jarring for a lot of Brits.

“I started to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside…that there is a forward-facing way of being, and then you close the door, but that formality carries over on both sides, and that was surprising to me.”

Before the Netflix series, Meghan shared one particular row that broke out between the two ladies surrounding Princess Charlotte’s bridesmaid’s dress, during a tell-all interview with Oprah.

The exact text message exchange was also later released in Prince Harry’s memoir Spare.

In Spare, Harry says Kate informed Meghan her daughter Princess Charlotte did not fit her bridesmaid dress for the Duke and Duchess’ 2018 wedding.

“Charlotte’s dress is too big, too long, too baggy. She cried when she tried it on at home,” Kate wrote to Meghan.

“Right, and I told you the tailor has been standing by since 8 am. Here. At KP. Can you take Charlotte to have it altered, as the other mums are doing.” Meghan replied days later due to her dealing with controversies surrounding her father, Thomas Markle.  

Kate responded firmly, saying: “No, the dresses need to be remade”. 

“I’m not sure what else to say. If the dress doesn’t fit, then please take Charlotte to see Ajay. He’s been waiting all day,” Meghan responded.

Kate ended the conversation bluntly, saying “fine”.

The heated exchange reportedly ended with Meghan “sobbing on the floor” afterwards. 

An insider later told Closer Magazine that Meghan hoped Kate would face repercussions after the world heard how Kate treated her during the disagreement, and was disappointed she “got away with it”.

“Meghan feels they’ve never been held accountable for the way they treated her when she was part of the royals, have never apologised and have seemingly got away with it,” the royal source said.

“That hasn’t happened.

“This isn’t how she envisioned things would turn out, but Meghan knows the truth and will tell anyone who will listen that Kate had an edge to her.”