Six years after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding on May 19, 2018, new details have emerged about tensions behind the scenes. While the day appeared flawless, with the couple marrying at St George's Chapel and thousands cheering in Windsor, reports suggest disagreements over bridesmaids' dresses, a tiara dispute, and last-minute changes to the father-of-the-bride role nearly derailed the event.
One major point of contention involved the bridesmaids' outfits. In November 2018, insiders claimed a 'stressful' dress fitting occurred, with Meghan's demands putting pressure on the Princess of Wales, who had recently given birth to Prince Louis. However, in her 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan said the reverse happened: 'A few days before the wedding, she was upset about something pertaining... about flower girl dresses, and it made me cry.' In his memoir Spare, Harry wrote that Kate was told to take Princess Charlotte to a tailor but initially said the dress needed remaking. He added that Kate later apologised and gave Meghan flowers and a card.
Another drama involved Meghan's tiara. She wore Queen Mary's diamond bandeau, but Harry claimed in Spare that the late Queen's dresser, Angela Kelly, deliberately delayed arranging a hair trial. Harry wrote: 'She said the tiara would require an orderly and a police escort... I said, if that's protocol, let's find them. She replied: Can't be done. She was being obstructive.' Harry considered approaching the Queen but decided against it, calling Kelly 'a troublemaker'.
Days before the wedding, Meghan's father Thomas announced he would not attend, leaving her without someone to walk her down the aisle. King Charles stepped in, offering to escort her. According to Robert Hardman's book Queen of Our Times, Meghan's reply was unexpected: 'Can we meet halfway?' Hardman described this as an indicator of a 'confident, independent woman determined to make a grand entrance on her own.'
