Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Royal Wedding: 3 Things That Caused Drama Behind the Scenes Besides Dresses and the Tiara
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s 2018 royal wedding wasn’t without some drama. There was, of course, friction involving the bride’s tiara as well as the flower girl dresses. However, the royal wedding drama didn’t end there. Other things were problematic behind the scenes for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
1. Harry and Meghan’s royal wedding: The palace ‘had trouble focusing’
In his 2023 Spare memoir, Harry revisited his and Meghan’s nuptials, including what happened behind palace walls leading up to the May 19, 2018, ceremony.
He and Meghan found it “hard” to “focus on the million and one details of planning a royal wedding” while dealing with drama involving Meghan’s father, Thomas Markle, at the time.
(Meghan’s dad didn’t attend the royal wedding. King Charles III walked Meghan—halfway—down the aisle.)
“Strangely,” Harry wrote, the palace “had trouble focusing too.” He and Meghan wanted to “get married quickly,” preferably elope in Botswana if they could have it their way. Meanwhile, the palace “couldn’t seem to pick a date. Or a venue.”
After rejecting possible wedding dates—March or June 2018—the palace greenlighted May 2018. They also accepted Harry and Meghan’s location request, St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.
2. Harry and Meghan’s royal wedding: Meghan’s veil inspired ‘spirited arguments’ at the palace
Meghan accessorized her Givenchy gown, designed by Clare Waight Keller, not only with a tiara but also an intricately designed veil. It featured a flower for every Commonwealth country and California as a nod to Meghan’s home state.
Unbeknownst to the world at the time, the 16-foot cathedral veil had become a hotly debated topic behind the scenes. “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.
“Not possible, some said. For a divorcée, a veil was thought to be out of the question.” Ultimately, of course, Meghan did wear a veil after, per Harry, the palace “unexpectedly showed some flexibility.”
3. Harry and Meghan’s royal wedding: Harry fought to keep the press out of St. George’s Chapel
Hundreds of people filled St. George’s Chapel to see Harry and Meghan get married. Not among them, however, were any members of the press, and that’s exactly how Harry wanted it.
“I told the Palace that on the Big Day, the happiest day of our lives,” he recalled, “I didn’t want to see one single royal correspondent inside that chapel. Unless [Rupert] Murdoch himself apologized for phone hacking.”
Harry went on to say it only happened after much back and forth with the palace, who didn’t initially respond well to the idea. “The palace scoffed. It would be all-out war, the courtiers warned, to bar the Royal Rota from the wedding.”
At that, Harry told them, “Then let’s go to war,” noting he’d “had it with the Royal Rota,” the press pool covering the royal family.
Finally, “after weeks of wrangling,” an agreement was reached. “The Royal Rota wouldn’t be allowed in the chapel, but they could gather outside,” Harry wrote, saying that he “hugely celebrated” the “small win.”
