Kate Middleton Had This Bad Experience With Meghan Markle’s New Charity Partner

Meghan Markle isn’t the first member of the royal family to dabble in the fashion world, and one of her new partner companies for her new charity line actually worked with her sister-in-law, Kate Middleton.

The Duchess of Sussex officially returned to royal duties and ended her maternity leave by unveiling the new charity fashion collection, which saw her partnering with Marks and Spencer, John Lewis ad Jigsaw, among others. However, Jigsaw previously teamed up with the Duchess of Cambridge, who worked as an assistant buyer for the chain in 2006.

Unfortunately, her relationship with her future husband at the time, which allegedly allowed her to work less and enjoy long weekends with her boyfriend, didn’t make her many friends, and in the 2010 book “William and Harry,” royal author Katie Nicholl spoke to the Duchess’ friend, Emma Sayle, who recalled that the special treatment led to some of her coworkers being “mean” to her.

“At Jigsaw Kate was allowed to work a four-day week, which enabled her to enjoy long weekends with William,” she wrote. “It was perfect for her but less ideal for some of her colleagues.”

“Kate told me that some of the people she worked with were mean to her and made her sweep the floors after a fashion shoot,” Sayle recalled in the book. “Kate stuck it out though and she loved the job. She always said she had great fun traveling to fairs across the country, where she would hunt for ideas and inspiration.”

However, despite her parents being good friends of John and Belle Robinson, the owners of the company, the connection to William also earned her some other criticism as well—as Queen Elizabeth reportedly also didn’t care for how Middleton was often vacationing while still only holding down a part-time job.

“If [Kate] was not with William at Balmoral then the couple were skiing or holidaying on Mustique,” Nicholl also recalled in the book. “Kate was there so often the press dubbed her ‘Queen of Mustique,’ a title that had previously belonged to Princess Margaret. The Queen is the hardest-working royal, despite her age, and that a future member of the family was without a full-time job was unacceptable to her.”

A source told Nicholl that the Queen held an opinion that if Middleton wanted to be a member of the family, she would need to change her image and also get a proper job.

“It is her Majesty’s opinion that is Kate is one day going to be William’s consort, then she needs a proper job,” the source said. “Swanning from one five-star holiday resort to another is not the prerequisite for a young woman possibly destined to be Queen.”

As for Markle, she has her own fair share of criticism to deal with, though for now, it doesn’t appear to be coming from those she may work with on the new line.