**Meghan Markle Reveals Why She Goes Barefoot When Greeting Guests, Despite Royals’ Disapproval**
*Published Oct. 24, 2025, 6:20 p.m. ET*
Meghan Markle has confessed that she goes barefoot whenever greeting guests at her home, years after revealing that the casual habit seemingly disgusted Prince William and Kate Middleton, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The California native, 44, explained why she loves welcoming others in this very informal way, even though the highly casual, shoeless look wasn’t a hit with the U.K. royals.
### Going Barefoot ‘Demystifies’
Markle opened up about her domestic dressing habits during a talk with college friend Courtney Adamo about her book, *The Family Home: Inspiring Ideas for a Home Filled with Joy*, at a bookstore in Summerland, California, on Thursday, October 23.
When at the Montecito mansion she shares with her husband, Prince Harry, Markle gushed about how she loves to answer the door “barefoot” and with an “apron on.”
“It demystifies,” she told the Godmother’s Bookstore audience and viewers watching via the store’s Substack live stream. “People walk in and go, ‘Oh, she’s in this with me.’ And what are they drawn to? Your kitchen. They come right in, and suddenly everyone’s a little bit softened,” Markle added, describing the barefoot practice.
### Cringeworthy First Meeting With Future In-Laws
Markle tried the laid-back barefoot look, along with a big hug, when meeting her future brother and sister-in-law for the first time in 2016.
Harry, 40, wrote in his 2023 memoir, *Spare*, that the gesture didn’t go over well with William, 43, and Middleton, 43.
The encounter took place at Nottingham Cottage on the grounds of Kensington Palace, where Harry and Markle were living together while still dating.
“[It] completely freaked him out. He recoiled,” Harry wrote about his brother upon Markle’s greeting. “Willy didn’t hug many strangers. Whereas Meg hugged most strangers.”
### ‘Really Jarring’
Markle herself recalled her barefoot-and-jeans look and informal greeting style in the couple’s 2022 Netflix docuseries, *Harry & Meghan*.
“Even when Will and Kate came over, and I had met her for the first time, they came over for dinner. I remember I was in ripped jeans, and I was barefoot,” the *As Ever* founder detailed.
“Like, I was a hugger, I’ve always been a hugger. I didn’t realize that that is really jarring for a lot of Brits,” she continued about meeting William and Kate.
“I guess I quickly realized that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside. That there is a forward-facing way of being,” Markle added about the Prince and Princess of Wales, calling it “surprising.”
### ‘It’s Bad Manners!’
While the future king and queen were unnerved by the barefoot, hug-filled greeting, some royal fans agreed it might have been too much.
“When you have to be barefoot or wear an apron to make people feel comfortable? There’s clearly something wrong with your personality,” one person griped on X.
A second user noted, “Many people think it’s bad manners to greet guests without shoes!”
A third poster pointed out: “If someone greeted me barefoot, I would first internally panic that I was early and had caught them unaware. If that were not the case, I would consider they were being massively over-casual with me. Neither of which is good. In terms of manners, it’s quite disrespectful.”
A fourth user speculated, “Maybe she thought it was American-cute,” referring to Markle’s barefoot approach when meeting William and Middleton.
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Despite mixed reactions, Meghan Markle’s barefoot greeting remains an intimate expression of warmth and informality in her home.
https://radaronline.com/p/meghan-markle-barefoot-greeting-sparks-outrage-prince-harry/