She dazzled in a bright yellow ensemble. Aside from her royal relatives, Catherine was joined by her own family, as her mother, Carole Middleton and sister-in-law, Alizee Thevenet, were also there. Alizee is married to the princess’s younger brother, James Middleton.
The future Queen was seen chatting, kissing and hugging her sister-in-law, in what can be seen as a major contrast to the Duchess of Sussex’s claims about affection within the Royal Family.
In her and Prince Harry’s bombshell docuseries on Netflix, Harry & Meghan, the duchess reminisces about donning a casual look and greeting Catherine with open arms: “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 explained: “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, 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.”
Royal fans were quick to spot how Catherine’s “formality” was out the door when greeting Alizee and took to social media to express their views.
One user wrote on X: “She does hug and get along with sisters-in-law. Hmmm [laughing face emoji]. Someone was lying. Maybe that someone with a history of being a problem….was the problem.”
Another one said: “How nice! I'm sure they see each other enough but we, the public, rarely see them together. They both look beautiful!”
A third person noted: “The Princess of Wales has a lovely relationships with her sister-in law Alizée Middleton.”
A fourth one commented: “Imagine Harry married someone decent who respected the royal family and then Princess Catherine would have someone she could share her.”
A fifth one asked: “Hmmmm. Maybe the issue is Meghan?”
Harry also wrote in his memoir Spare about Meghan's first meeting with William, saying: “[It] completely freaked him out. He recoiled. Willy didn't hug many strangers. Whereas Meg hugged most strangers.
“Will had hoped that she would greet him with standard reverence per the protocol, [but] she didn't know it and I hadn't told her.”
