Meghan Markle dubbed 'breakout star', Kate and William praised as ornamental royals

Royal biographer Katie Nicholl claims in her book that Kate Middleton and Prince William "up their game" due to Meghan Markle's "honed skills".

In her book “The New Royals”, Ms Nicholl writes: "It was, according to one aide, the moment William and Kate, who was heavily pregnant, realized they needed to up their game."

The author added: "The Cambridges had already signaled their intention to be more than ‘ornamental royals’ and had, along with Harry, made a huge success of their mental health campaign Heads Together."

Nicholl continues, "But Meghan was the breakout star of the foursome. She was polished, passionate and funny, using all her TV-honed skills to present her case."

The biographer went on writing: "That was a wake-up moment for William and Kate when they realized that Meghan was very impressive, very confident and very capable, according to a source."