EXCLUSIVE: Meghan Markle 'Refusing to Bow to Future Queen Catherine' to Seal Royal Family Peace Deal
Meghan Markle isn't quite ready to bow to future queen Catherine, according to sources.
Sept. 3 2026, Published 7:55 p.m. ET
Meghan Markle is refusing to "bow" to Catherine, Princess of Wales, in an attempt to end their bitter royal rift, with sources telling RadarOnline.com the Duchess of Sussex wants peace – but will not grovel to achieve it.
The Duchess of Sussex, 45, is back in Britain with Prince Harry, 41, and their children, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, after six years based in California.
Meghan Markle Refuses to Beg Future Queen for Forgiveness?
Markle has refused to grovel to Catherine, Princess of Wales, according to sources.
Their return has inevitably renewed attention on their fractured relationship with Prince William, 44, and Catherine, 44, amid speculation the Sussexes could remain in Britain for an extended period.
A palace source claimed: "Meghan is prepared to be civil and she recognizes that rebuilding a relationship with Kate would make life enormously easier for everyone. What she will not do is arrive back in Britain, bow her head and accept that everything that went wrong was somehow her fault. In Meghan's mind, reconciliation has to involve movement and acknowledgment from both sides."
According to insiders, Markle wants to heal the relationship with Catherine, but not if it means she has to grovel for forgiveness from the future Queen.
"Meghan has reached a point where she is simply not prepared to grovel to anybody to be accepted back into the royal fold – and Kate is no exception," they claimed. "She may genuinely want the hostility between them to end, particularly now that they are living in the same country again, but she doesn't believe reconciliation should require her to take all of the blame or behave as though she alone has something to apologize for.
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Markle previously claimed the princess reduced her to tears over dresses.
"She has very firm boundaries about what she will and won't tolerate after everything that happened during her previous life in Britain. From Meghan's perspective, those boundaries are about protecting herself and her family rather than prolonging a feud."
The insider added, "She is willing to explore whether she and Kate can establish a different, more peaceful relationship, but it would have to be based on mutual respect and effort from both women. She isn't going to bow to Kate, beg for forgiveness or pretend that her own grievances never existed simply to secure a royal peace deal."
Tensions between the sisters-in-law became public following Harry and Markle's 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Markle disputed reports that she had reduced Catherine to tears during a disagreement over flower-girl dresses before her 2018 wedding.
She claimed the opposite had occurred, while stressing that Catherine subsequently apologized with flowers and a note.
Markle also described her sister-in-law as a "good person."
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Markle insisted reconciliation required equal effort from both royal sides.
The episode resurfaced in Harry's memoir Spare, which described disagreements surrounding Princess Charlotte's bridesmaid dress and also detailed another dispute after Markle made a "baby brain" remark following the birth of Catherine's youngest child, Prince Louis.
Another royal source claimed: "There is baggage on both sides that cannot simply be erased because Harry and Meghan are geographically closer again. Meghan believes she was deeply hurt by what happened before she left Britain, while Kate has had to watch intensely private family disagreements discussed publicly. Neither woman is likely to pretend those years never happened."
Prince William's Brutal Attack On Meghan Markle
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Insiders stressed Markle rejected taking sole blame for past issues.
The broader breakdown between the two couples was laid bare in Spare, with Harry alleging William physically attacked him during a 2019 confrontation in which William had described Markle as "difficult," "rude" and "abrasive."
An insider claimed: "Meghan's position is essentially that she will meet Kate halfway, but halfway is the important word. She isn't coming back to Britain prepared to perform some public act of contrition or behave as though she needs Kate's forgiveness before she can be welcomed back into the fold."
