Queen Elizabeth II is said to have expressed quiet concern ahead of her grandson Prince Harry’s marriage to Meghan Markle, according to a new royal book about the late monarch.
The book, serialised in the Daily Mail, has claimed Meghan’s arrival marked a significant turning point for the monarch and the royal traditions she had long upheld. While the Queen is believed to have supported the couple, she also reportedly encouraged a more measured approach.
“The Queen herself suggested that Harry should wait a year,” author Hugo Vickers writes. “He did not take her advice. Instead, as we know, the wedding went ahead just over six months after the couple’s engagement.”
Queen Elizabeth’s reported ambivalence is also said to have extended to details of the big day itself, including the Duchess of Sussex’s wedding dress. Mr Vickers adds: “It was said that the Queen did not like the dress – too white and with ungainly shoulders. Someone close to the monarch told me her attitude to the actual wedding was: ‘You get on with it. It’s nothing to do with me.'”
© Getty ImagesPrince Harry and Meghan on their wedding day on 19 May 2018
He continues: “Contrast this to the day, barely five months later, that Princess Eugenie married Jack Brooksbank in St George’s Chapel.
“This was a happier wedding. It did not attract as much publicity, and the Duke of York was annoyed that it would not be filmed for the major networks, though he persuaded a company to record it.”
© GettyQueen Elizabeth II looks on during the wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle
For her big day, Meghan chose a gown designed by Givenchy’s Clare Waight Keller, complete with a bateau neckline, a fitted bodice accentuating her slender waist and refined three-quarter sleeves.
According to another book, William & Catherine: The Intimate Inside Story, the latest book by royal editor Russell Myers, Meghan’s insistence on wearing a veil was a bone of contention in the lead-up to her big day.
Myers wrote: “The Queen was upset that Harry had asked the Archbishop of Canterbury to perform the ceremony at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, instead of the Dean of Windsor, as tradition would dictate.
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“[Royal author Sally] Bedell Smith described how Meghan ‘refused’ to tell the Queen about her wedding dress and had insisted on wearing a veil, which the Queen privately disagreed with, due to her being a divorcee.”
Other royal divorcees like Queen Camilla and Princess Anne, both opted against wearing traditional veils or classic white bridal gowns, favouring tailored outfits and hats instead.
Meghan chose a custom-made silk tulle veil that paid homage to the Commonwealth and all 53 of its countries through tiny embroidered flowers. It was designed by her bridal gown maker, Clare Waight Keller of Givenchy.