Meghan Markle is aware she is being ‘pitted against’ future queen Kate Middleton and finds the situation ‘challenging’, according to a royal source.
A friend of the duchess claimed Meghan ‘doesn’t fit the mould’, while Kate was ‘groomed’ for her role as the future monarch’s wife.
They added that Meghan was a ‘fully formed person’ when she joined the Royal Family, however Kate was still a young student when she met Prince William at the University of St Andrews.
They added that the two women are more focused on their respective families than being competitive with each other.
Meghan Markle is aware she is being ‘pitted against’ future queen Kate Middleton and finds the situation ‘challenging’, according to a royal source. Pictured during Trooping The Colour 2018
‘Meghan is very aware that Kate will be queen; their roles are very clear,’ the friend told People magazine.
‘Meghan doesn’t fit the mould while Kate was groomed for this.
‘What’s challenging is when they are pitted against each other. That’s been challenging to both of them. Meghan has her life, Kate has hers.’
The comments come after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex started a six-week break from royal duties last week.
A friend of the duchess claimed Meghan ‘doesn’t fit the mould’, while Kate was ‘groomed’ for her role as the future monarch’s wife. Pictured together at the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey
They had previously announced they will be celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas with their six-month-old son Archie and Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland in America.
Despite Her Majesty giving her grandson her full support, royals sources said the monarch was in the dark about his festive plans until he called her at Buckingham Palace earlier this month to decline her open invite.
According to the friend who spoke to People, Harry and Meghan are trying to ‘carve out a different sort of public life and reset the rules’.
‘William and Kate toe the line, maybe because they have to, but Harry and Meghan are saying no,’ they said.
The royal source added that the Duchesses, pictured together at Wimbledon, are more focused on their respective families than being competitive with each other
‘No to releasing the names of Archie’s godparents, no to saying where Meghan gave birth.’
Last month Prince Harry, 35, and Meghan, 38, opened up about struggling with royal life and public scrutiny in the explosive ITV programme Meghan and Harry: An African Journey, in which Meghan revealed not many people have asked if she’s ‘okay’.
Meghan admitted to feeling vulnerable and spoke to Tom Bradby about the difficulty in coping with intense tabloid interest, saying: ‘It’s not enough to just survive something, that’s not the point of life. You have got to thrive.’
Harry, meanwhile, refused to deny a rift between himself and Prince William, acknowledging, ‘we are on different paths at the moment’.
According to the friend, Harry and Meghan (pictured at the WellChild Awards last month) are trying to ‘carve out a different sort of public life and reset the rules’
Despite the couple’s honest confessions about their struggles in the spotlight, a source told People that relations between Harry and Meghan and the rest of the royal family remain difficult.
‘Nothing has changed. They don’t speak, no one is checking in, no one is texting,’ they claimed.
It was reported after the documentary aired that Prince William was ‘concerned’ for his younger brother, and hoped he and Meghan were ‘all right’.
Author and former royal correspondent Phil Dampier told the Express that after the programme, Kate had reached out to Meghan and was ‘doing her best to bring everyone together and help her’.
Despite the couple’s honest confessions about their struggles in the spotlight, a source told People that relations between Harry and Meghan and the rest of the royal family remain difficult. Pictured: Prince William, the Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex attend a service marking the centenary of WW1 armistice at Westminster Abbey in November last year
But last week insiders said the chill between the couples runs deeper than many outsiders realise, with some suggesting Prince William’s position as future king is causing on-going tension with his brother.
They said: ‘There is going to be some competitiveness between him and Harry. That already puts a rock in the relationship.’
Meghan and Harry’s choice to spend Christmas apart from the rest of the Royal Family has also been criticised, with some calling it a ‘snub’ to the Queen.
Meghan and Harry’s choice to spend Christmas apart from the rest of the Royal Family has also been criticised, with some calling it a ‘snub’ to the Queen. Pictured: Prince William and Kate and Prince Harry and Meghan with Prince Charles on Christmas Day last year at Sandringham
Phil Dampier, author of Royally Suited: Harry and Meghan, told MailOnline: ‘It’s very hard to see this as anything other than a snub to the Queen and the rest of the royal family. It shows there is a deep rift.
‘If Harry and Meghan wanted to heal the divisions they should have turned up at Sandringham. It’s a great shame but there seems to be a problem which is getting worse, not better.’
He added: ‘I don’t buy it’s the turn of Meghan to spend Christmas with her family. She’s only close to her mother and they will see plenty of her during their six-week break. I’m sure that the Queen would be happy to invite Doria to Sandringham to join them.’
William and Kate have missed Christmas at Sandringham twice since 2012.