08 December 2023 , 16:00
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Princess Charlotte and Prince George showed there's a huge amount of affection among their family with a heartwarming gesture at the ITV Royal Family Christmas concert last year.
As the royals prepare to rally around the Princess of Wales when she hosts tonight's concert amid the royal race row, her own children innocently demonstrated Meghan Markle's previous claims about them weren't true at the 2022 service.
Charlotte and George were seen greeting their grandfather and grandmother King Charles and Queen Camilla with kisses and cuddles - after Meghan hit out at the "formality" of the family.
ITV royal editor Chris Ship said at the time: "The senior Royal Family chose tonight to put on a show of unity - and even some public displays of affection between father/son and grandad/grandchildren. (You might even spot one of those hugs that Meghan said Brits find so 'jarring') I'm sure it's all just coincidence."
Prince William, Prince of Wales, Princess Charlotte of Wales and Prince George of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales attend the 'Together at Christmas' Carol Service at Westminster Abbey (Getty Images)Meghan took aim at her sister-in-law the Princess of Wales during her Netflix docuseries in 2022, claiming she was "surprised" by the behind the scenes formality of members of the royal family. She recalled a dinner party with Prince William and Kate during the early days of her relationship with Harry, when the two couples lived just a few doors apart in Kensington Palace.
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Speaking in episode two of the six-part Harry & Meghan Netflix, she said: "When Will and Kate came over, and I met her for the first time, they came over for dinner, I remember I was in ripped jeans and I was barefoot. "I was a hugger. I've always been a hugger, I didn't realise that that is really jarring for a lot of Brits. I guess I started to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside.
The family were spotted in public displays of affection with their family (Getty Images)
Charlotte and George greeted their grandfather King Charles III warmly (Getty Images)"There is a forward-facing way of being, and then you close the door and go 'You can relax now', but that formality carries over on both sides. And that was surprising to me." It was one of a series of bombshell allegations Meghan and Harry made on their Netflix show. All filming was completed in August 2022, before the Queen died, and the introduction to the first episode stated the royal family declined to comment on the contents of the show.
Harry also recalled Meghan's first meeting with his grandmother in the programme, describing it as a "shock to the system". He said: "My grandmother was the first senior member of the family that Meghan met. She had no idea what it all consisted of so it was a bit of a shock to the system for her."
Meghan said: "There wasn't like some big moment of 'Now you're going to meet my grandmother'. I didn't know I was going to meet her until moments before. We were in the car and we were going to Royal Lodge for lunch, and he's like 'Oh, my grandmother's here, we're going to meet her after church'. And I remember we were in the car driving up and he's like .You know how to curtsy, right? And I just thought it was a joke."
Harry & Meghan talking on their Netflix documentary (Netflix)Harry said: "How do you explain that to people? How do you explain that you bow to your grandmother? And that you will need to curtsy. Especially to an American. That's weird.". And Meghan added: "Now I'm starting to realise 'This is a big deal'. I mean, Americans will understand this. We have medieval times, dinner and tournament. It was like that."
Tonight, Kate will be hosting her yearly festive carol concert at Westminster Abbey, with this year's event celebrating those who support young children and their families. The annual event began several years ago, with the service filmed and broadcast on ITV on Christmas Eve.
This year's concert comes just days after the publication of explosive royal book Endgame, which paints unflattering portraits of several royals – including Kate. It also reignited tensions after the Dutch version of the book – which was recalled – dragged King Charles and Kate into the royal race row.