Kate Middleton is 'reaching out' to Meghan Markle 'a lot more' since Lilibet Diana's birth

Kate Middleton has reportedly been attempting to strengthen the family ties between herself and her sister-in-law Meghan Markle in the month after the birth of her niece, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.

"Kate has been reaching out to Meghan a lot more since [Lilibet] was born, she's sending [notes and] gifts and trying to build up a relationship," a source told Us Weekly.

RELATED: Harry 'wouldn't mind reconciling' but Meghan and William aren't 'prepared to concede', says historian

"'The Firm' has been instructing staffers to reach out more to [Prince] Harry and Meghan to get them to soften a bit."

Prince Harry is currently in the United Kingdom, having just unveiled a statue of his mother Princess Diana on what would have been her 60th birthday with his brother Prince William.

This the second time he has returned to the UK since his and his wife's royal departure in January 2020. The first time was in April 2021 for his grandfather Prince Philip's funeral.

RELATED: What happened between Prince William and Prince Harry?

Meghan has not returned since resigning as a senior royal, however, this is due to the fact she was heavily pregnant with Lili, and then had only just given birth.

The relationship between the Cambridges and the Sussexes has been strained more overtly since Harry and Meghan's departure, however, following the Sussexes' tell-all with Oprah in March 2021, it has been speculated relations between the two sisters-in-law broke down even moreso.

The Duchess of Sussex alluded to the strain between herself and the Duchess of Cambridge to Oprah, saying the dynamic was worsened by the UK's tabloids.

"If you love me, you don't have to hate her. And if you love her, you don't have to hate me," Meghan said.

Initial reports Meghan made Kate cry before the Sussex wedding in 2018 were also refuted by Meghan herself, the duchess saying, in fact, "the reverse happened."

RELATED: Princess Diana would have been 'mesmerised and intimidated' by Meghan, biographer claims

"A few days before the wedding she was upset about flower girl dresses and it made me cry. It really hurt my feelings. It was a really hard week of the wedding. And she was upset about something, but she owned it, and she apologised. And she brought me flowers and a note, apologising," Meghan said.

Meghan has consistently spoken highly of her sister-in-law in public, and even when she was clarifying the false narrative — which allegedly infuriated Prince William as he feels Kate cannot speak back publicly — she emphasised to Oprah that Kate is "a good person."

A source told Us Weekly after the Oprah tell-all that Kate "feels that there was a misunderstanding" between her and Meghan, while another said that the sisters-in-law had not been in contact for a while at that stage — but apparently that is less to do with the two women, and moreso with their husbands' falling out.

RELATED: Meghan's glowing comments about the Queen over the years

"They were never that close, but the reason they're not speaking is because of the rift between Prince Harry and Prince William," the source explained to the publication.

"Harry and William have communicated sparingly over the last year, but none of their communications have been friendly in quite some time. There is real animosity that the brothers have toward one another, and that has spilled over to Meghan and Kate's relationship, making it very hard for them to be friends or even friendly."

Lili's arrival seems to be a catalyst-of-sorts in mending the relationship, with the Cambridges congratulating the Sussexes publicly after her birth.

"We are all delighted by the happy news of the arrival of baby Lili," they wrote on Instagram. "Congratulations to Harry, Meghan and Archie."

A week after Lili's birth, Kate said she "can't wait to meet" Lili during an engagement with Dr Jill Biden.

"We haven't met her yet. I hope that will be soon," Kate said.

For a daily dose of 9Honey, sign up here to receive our top stories straight to your inbox