King Charles Had Questions About Meghan Makle’s Wedding Dress Right Before She Walked Down the Aisle
Meghan Markle’s wedding dress prompted questions from King Charles III before she and Prince Harry’s 2018 nuptials got underway. Like … moments before with a packed church. According to the dress’s designer, the groom’s father had a particular interest in one element shortly before the Duchess of Sussex walked down the aisle.
King Charles asked Meghan’s wedding dress designer about her veil embroidery
So what piqued King Charles’s curiosity with Meghan’s wedding dress? It wasn’t its sleek look and minimalist design courtesy of Clare Waight Keller, Givenchy’s then-creative director. As revealed by Waight Keller, it was instead Meghan’s veil that caught his attention. More specifically, the intricate embroidery that bordered the 16.5-foot silk tulle veil. The product of hundreds of hours of work, Meghan’s veil required atelier workers to wash their hands every 30 minutes.
“King Charles was just in awe of the dress and the [veil] embroidery,” Waight Keller told Vanity Fair. “And he asked me about it while we were waiting inside the nave. He was really very interested, actually, in all the different motifs and the floral representations.”
Meghan’s veil featured hand-embroidered flowers, one for each of the 53 Commonwealth countries, made of silk and organza. Among the blooms were nods to Meghan’s home state of California (poppy) and the royal family (wintersweet).
“[Meghan] felt like she was bringing an element of each of those countries down the aisle with her. So that her new role — and that bridge to the new role — was captured in what she was wearing,” Waight Keller explained. “For both of us, we felt it was a really beautiful signature, and I think even Prince Harry was just thrilled at the idea that we really tried to capture something for everyone in that service.”
Meghan almost didn’t walk down the aisle wearing a veil
A memorable moment from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s nuptials, which inspired many a meme, was when Harry struggled with Meghan’s veil. However, according to his January 2023 memoir, it might’ve never happened. The reason, palace courtiers weren’t sold on the idea of Meghan wearing a veil.
“There had been spirited arguments in the back corridors of the Palace about whether or not Meg could — or should — wear a veil,” Harry recalled (via Spare). “Not possible, some said. For a divorcée, a veil was thought to be out of the question. But the powers that be, unexpectedly, showed some flexibility on the veil.”
And that’s how Meghan wore a veil to her royal wedding, held in place by Queen Mary’s diamond and platinum bandeau tiara, on loan from the late Queen Elizabeth II, which Harry remembered looking “seemingly made for Meg.”
Why Meghan asked King Charles to walk her down the aisle
In addition to asking about Meghan’s veil, King Charles also played a major role in the royal wedding. He walked Meghan down the aisle. In Harry & Meghan, Netflix’s December 2022 docuseries about the couple, the former Suits star explained why her father-in-law took up the post.
“Harry’s dad is very charming, and I said to him, ‘I’ve lost my dad in this,’” Meghan said, referencing her father Thomas Markle, who didn’t attend following staged paparazzi photos and two reported heart attacks. “So him as my father-in-law is very important to me,” she said.
So I asked him to walk me down the aisle, and he said ‘yes.'”
“The whole thing was surreal,” Meghan continued before adding “It was at that moment I could see H.”
