An American girl falling in love with a dashing European prince and becoming royalty is literally the kind of thing that happens in fairy tales and romantic comedies (open in new tab). So when it actually happened to Meghan Markle (opens in new tab), we all instinctively expected her life to unfold like a perfect story. Unfortunately, Meghan's time in the Royal Family (opens in new tab) did not unfold like a fairy tale.

Apparently, there were bumps in the proverbial road long before she and Prince Harry (open in new tab) decided to step down from their duties as active royals. In their best-selling royal biography, Finding Freedom: Harry, Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family (opens in new tab), Omid Scobie and Caroline Durand describe Meghan's first introduction to the royal family revealed that they were immediately faced with disappointment when Meghan's future sister-in-law Kate Middleton (opens in new tab) was not present when she was first introduced to the royal family.

Meghan's first royal introduction was an informal tea party with Harry's father and brother, Prince Charles (opens in new tab) and Prince William (opens in new tab), but Kate was apparently just not available.

"Meghan was disappointed not to see Kate, who was with her children at Anmer Hall, the couple's Norfolk residence near Sandringham," Scobie and Durand wrote in Page Six (opens in new tab). 'But she thought no more of it because she was so close to Harry's brother. William shared with his brother how happy he was to see Harry smile and tell him how he felt."

Of course, Megan eventually met Kate, and the two women hit it off well. They hit it off over their shared love of tennis and even watched a match together at Wimbledon.