Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton’s secret agreement

Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton have a frosty relationship — but they made a secret agreement early on, says a royal expert.

Rumours of a feud between Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton are greatly exaggerated, a royal expert claims, but that doesn’t mean the duchesses are necessarily eager to hang out together.

“I think this idea of there being a catfight between the two duchesses has made tantalising headlines, but I don’t believe that,” royal expert Katie Nicholl told Glamour. “I’ve never heard from my sources that there has ever been a feud or a falling-out.”

However, Nicholl says there is one rumoured incident between the royal wives that she does think holds some water.

Prince Harry reportedly had high hopes that Meghan (left) and Kate would be friends. Picture: AFP

“I had heard about an upset over the dress fitting for Princess Charlotte,” Nicholl said, referring to Markle allegedly making Middleton cry ahead of Prince Harry’s royal wedding. “And I had heard that while Harry was very keen for the two of them to become best friends, there was never that sort of a friendship.”

“I know in the early days Kate invited Meghan over to apartment 1A for tea. Obviously, she took her on that high-profile trip to Wimbledon, so they have spent time together. But what I think hasn’t happened is — they haven’t become best friends out of all of it,” Nicholl said. “That’s not to say they hate each other. I don’t believe that to be the case at all.”

“They quite quickly realised they were two pretty mature women — quite different women — and really the only thing they had in common was they’d married princes,” Nicholl explained. “Not just Prince Harry, I think probably the world wanted them to become best friends.”

However, Nicholl does believe that Prince Harry and Prince William may not have seen eye-to-eye recently. Reports suggested that William warned Harry not to rush into marriage with Markle, which allegedly “riled” the Ginger Prince.

The royal expert says there is “truth to the tension.”

“I do think there is some truth to there having been some tension — not just between the duchesses but between the dukes, as well,” Nicholl said. “As we all know, things can gather momentum pretty quickly. So while I think there’s been tension, I don’t believe there has been some feud.”

As for Markle and Middleton’s recent highly publicised hug, Nicholl says that was a strategic move.

“I do know that Meghan and Kate have come to an agreement to get along, to make an effort, to be amiable and warm toward each other in public,” she said. “They both realise it’s in neither of their interests to have these catfight headlines. It’s not what either of them want.”