Kate Middleton may still join Meghan Markle's 40x40 birthday initiative

After Princess Eugenie, Kate Middleton might also be throwing her royal support behind Meghan Markle's 40x40 campaign.

The Duchess of Cambridge has not yet acknowledged her sister-in-law's women empowerment campaign that was started to mark her 40th birthday, but royal expert Mikhaila Friel believes that there is still time for her to join the project. In a recent conversation with Us Weekly, Friel said that scheduling conflicts and Kensington Palace's approval process might have been the reasons Kate hasn't publicly spoken about the programme, under which 40 prominent people will spend 40 minutes mentoring women and encouraging them to reenter the workforce.

"I don't think it was an intentional move," Friel said about Kate's silence on the matter.

"There might be a reason she couldn't have officially put her name down, but that being said, I don't think that means that we won't see her involved in some capacity," Friel added.

The royal expert noted that even Princess Eugenie wasn't initially named in the official roster of participants, but she later confirmed her participation through an Instagram story. She explained, "Prince Harry's cousin Princess Eugenie she actually posted on her Instagram that she was supporting the initiative. And her name wasn't mentioned in the original press release, so it could be that Kate turns around and shows support in her own way down the line."

The participants who have been confirmed include Adele, Stella McCartney, Amanda Gorman, Amanda Nguyen, Deepak Chopra, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, Gloria Steinem, José Andrés, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, and Sophie Grégoire Trudeau.

Despite Eugenie extending her support to the project, many believe that Meghan's video with Melissa McCarthy through which she announced it was disrespectful to royalty. In the video, McCarthy is seen wearing a white flowy dress before she realises that she is on a video call with Meghan, and so changes into a fancy dress and hat and gloves with a teacup and saucer in her hand in a nod to the latter's Duchess status.

Royal biographer Angela Levin said about the skit, "Melissa sipping from the cup and wearing fancy hat and gloves? The mockery shows what she (Meghan) thinks of the Royal Family. She's got what she wanted and is confident she can outsmart us all."