“Even when Will and Kate came over and I was meeting her for the first time I remember I was in ripped jeans, I was barefoot,” she said.
“Like I was a hugger, I have always been a hugger. I didn’t realise that is really jarring for a lot of Brits. I started to understand that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside.”
Prince Harry later reinforced that narrative in his 2023 memoir Spare, describing his brother’s reaction when Meghan leaned in for a hug.
“I introduced Meg, who leaned in and gave him a hug, which completely freaked him out. He recoiled.”
“Willy didn’t hug many strangers. Whereas Meg hugged most strangers.”
A pattern of public affection
While Prince William has never addressed those claims directly, he has repeatedly been photographed hugging members of the public, fellow royals, and high-profile figures over the years.
In 2022, he embraced an emotional pensioner during a visit to Scotland. Earlier this year, he accepted an impromptu hug during a walkabout in South London.