During Meghan Markle’s time as a working royal, she crossed paths with dozens of servants and staff, but not everyone warmed to the modern-day duchess, a new book claims

While many royal servants warmed to Meghan Markle, others reportedly found day-to-day challenges with the duchess.

Royal staff who waited on Prince Harry and his wife Meghan during their time as working royals have shared a glimpse into their lives within the four walls of royal palace. A brand new book, by author Tom Quinn, titled Yes Ma’am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants, lifts the lid on what many insiders observed during their time waiting on the Sussexes.

In the explosive book, which has been excerpted in The Times, life is shed on Meghan’s very American mannerisms fuelling a shock rumour and claims she thought the Royal Family acted like ‘babies’ and were ‘belittling Harry’. Here, the Mirror takes a look inside the royal bubble and what allegedly went on behind the scenes…

Meghan thought the royals ‘behaved like babies’, a former staff member claims ( 
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Meghan thought royals ‘behaved like babies’

The new book says that Meghan’s American upbringing made her sheltered from the realities of British royal life. Quinn writes that when Meghan discovered that Harry was only worth about £20million, she “quickly realised” that she needed to “reassess other assumptions she’d made about this strange new family”.

As one royal staff member put it, “She expected a billionaire and she got a millionaire.” A member of her former team is also quoted as saying that the actress “really disliked the hierarchy”. Giving an example of senior royals getting jealous of each other’s materialistic goods, the ex-staff member said: “Meghan thought they behaved like babies.”

Meghan initially tried to ‘run the show’

Before joining the Royal Family, Meghan was used to being far more independent and in control. But she soon realised that it wasn’t traditional royal protocol to ‘grab the bull by the horns’, according to the book. In early meetings with the new duchess and members of staff, Meghan was “so confident” that it seemed as though she wanted to run the meetings rather than listen and learn, one of her former team claimed.

Meghan thought royals were ‘belittling Harry’

Meghan was less than impressed by her first royal residence, according to the book. Quinn writes that Meghan felt the size of Nottingham Cottage, a two-bedroom cottage on the grounds of Kensington Palace, “must be a reflection of how the royal family were belittling her husband”, as a member of staff told him.

He claims Meghan didn’t understand how Kensington Palace, where William and Kate lived with teams of live-in servants, seemed the “equivalent” of Nottingham Cottage. It’s not the first time the residence has come up in conversation, with Harry writing in his memoir Spare: “I was excited to welcome Meg to my home, but also embarrassed. Nott Cott was no palace.”

Meghan has always been a hugger and found it difficult to accept the royal formal way ( 
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PA)

Quinn claims that Meghan’s tactile manner made William feel uncomfortable ( 
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PA)

Meghan’s sweet dancing with William

Before their close bond crumbled, William and Kate were incredibly excited to welcome Meghan into the fold, Quinn says. The author recounts a surprisingly lighthearted moment between Meghan and William, allegedly witnessed by a junior staffer who saw them “doing a jokey parody of the Fifties jiving together”. One staffer recalled the Waleses thinking Meghan was a “breath of fresh air” at the beginning.

William and Kate weren’t the only ones to initially welcome Meghan with open arms. A courtier previously told the Daily Mail’s royal reporter Richard Eden that “the Queen believed that Meghan would be a breath of fresh air and a great asset to the Monarchy.”

They said: “The Queen fast-tracked her entry into the Royal Family, inviting Meghan to join her at a service to mark Commonwealth Day – her first official engagement with the Queen – two months before the wedding. It was another clear indication that Her Majesty valued Meghan and wanted her to be seen as a part of the family without delay.”

Meghan’s affection ‘fuelled flirting rumour’

Meghan’s affectionate side has always stood out in stark contrast to the Royal Family’s formalities. But her hugging and cheek kissing was wrongly misinterpreted by staff as her ‘flirting’ with William, according to insiders quoted in the book. Quinn writes that her tactile manner made William feel “uncomfortable”, as Meghan would allegedly hug him almost every time they saw each other.

The hugging and cheek-kissing fuelled gossip among staff “that Meghan was flirting with William, which she was obviously not, but the tense atmosphere caused by all the touchy-feeliness (and the resultant gossip) deepened the rift between the brothers”, the book claims. Both Meghan and Harry have previously stated that William and Kate found her love of hugging ‘jarring’.

In their Netflix docuseries, Meghan said she did not know the royals’ formal way carries through behind closed doors. She said: “I started to understand 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 and think, ‘OK, we can relax now’. But that formality carries over on both sides and that was surprising to me.”

Meghan was given a number of nicknames by staff, including the Duchess of Difficult and Mystic Meg ( 
Image:
PA)The book claims that Meghan’s “warm, friendly hug-everyone approach”, caused tension to develop between William and Harry, with problems arising “fairly early on”. Quinn claims Kate, William and Charles “tended to flinch when she moved in for a hug”, as they weren’t used to so much affection between royals. He says California native Meghan was “understandably hurt”.

Meghan given nicknames by staff

Meghan, whose birth name is Rachel, chose to go by her middle name long ago. While Harry publicly calls his wife Meg and M, staffers had many nicknames for the duchess. According to Quinn, “her nickname for a while was the Duchess of Difficult, but she had other, friendlier nicknames, including Mystic Meg, while came about because she was so new agey, so woke, about so many things”.

It was previously revealed that Charles had his own nickname for Meghan during her time as a working royal, with the King recognising her resilience. He affectionately called her Tungten, due to her being ‘tough and unbending’, it was claimed. Tungsten refers to a metal in the periodic table, which is known for its high melting point and core strength.