Meghan Markle once suffered 'mortifying snub' from Hollywood A-lister Emma Watson

Prince Harry's sweetheart Meghan Markle once suffered 'mortifying snub' from Hollywood A-lister Emma Watson who was her 'hero', a new book has claimed.

Meghan vocally supported over the years Emma Watson's HeForShe initiative - a campaign launched in 2014 by the actress to support gender equality. Meghan also took part in a meeting in London addressed by Ms Watson.

Tom Bower, in his new biography focused on the Duchess, has claimed that Meghan had asked to meet the fellow actress after the event - but her request was rebuffed.

In an extract from his book published by The Times, Mr Bower wrote: "During a trip to London she went to a small meeting addressed by Emma Watson, her hero and role model.

"At the end, she asked to meet Watson. The actress rejected the request. The snub was mortifying."

Watson’s rebuff was not mentioned when Meghan described her UN role in The Tig.

"'I was in London', she wrote to her followers, 'to support Emma Watson in her HeForShe Initiative for UN Women'."

Mr Bower quoted a post from The Tig in which Meghan also spoke about her role as UN Women Advocate for Women’s Leadership & Political Participation and the powerful speech she delivered in the presence of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon among others.

In another blog post, dating back to 2014, the now Duchess had already spoken about Ms Watson and her HeForShe initiative.

In her article, Meghan described it as an "incredible honour" being present at the United Nations Headquarters for the launch event of HeForShe. She also recalled how she sat "directly across from UN Women Global Goodwill Ambassador, Emma Watson, as she delivered an inimitable speech on feminism."

Meghan and Ms Watson met again in October 2016, at the summit held in Ottawa, Canada, by One Young World, an organisation identifying, connecting and promoting young leaders.