Meghan Markle, Kate Middleton have Princess Charlotte to thank for their bond

Princess Charlotte was said to have been instrumental in helping bring Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton closer during the early stages of the former's relationship with Prince Harry.

The former "Suits" star and the Duchess of Cambridge were not particularly close when they were first introduced to each other. Authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand claimed in their book "Finding Freedom" that the duchesses were very different from each other.

Meghan Markle was said to have been left "disappointed" when she realised that Kate Middleton was an "extremely guarded person" who had a tight-knit group of friends. They wrote, "Meghan would agree with the assessment that the duchesses were not the best of friends."

Their relationship reportedly did not progress much when she was Prince Harry's girlfriend. The former actress was left disappointed "that she and Kate hadn't bonded over the position they shared, but she wasn't losing sleep over it."

However, it was Princess Charlotte who eventually helped ease tensions between the duchesses and allowed them to form a bond with each other. It happened early in her relationship with Prince Harry when Meghan Markle lived with him at his home at Nottingham Cottage. They lived close to Prince William and Kate Middleton and their children at Kensington Palace and they spent a lot of time with Princess Charlotte and her siblings Prince George and Prince Louis.

The duchesses had to set their differences aside when the children were around and in a way, this helped them grow close. The Duchess of Sussex even gifted the mum-of-three a soft leather Smythson notebook and they later attended Wimbledon together for two years in a row.

But things changed after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their departure from their royal roles. Scobie told People that "a lot of damage has been done." Kate Middleton and Prince William "barely acknowledged" the Sussexes when they smiled at them at the annual Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey.

Scobie clarified that though there were definitely "awkward moments" between Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, they "were not at war" with each other despite being pitted against each other.