The Queen did slap down Meghan Markle over her choice of wedding day tiara, a new book claims, but the Duchess of Sussex has blamed Her Majesty’s personal dresser, Angela Kelly, for the bust up.
Finding Freedom, a new book about the Sussexes, has shed light on a row that broke out ahead of Prince Harry’s wedding to Meghan in 2018.
At the time it was reported that Meghan wanted to wear an emerald tiara, but the Queen had instead selected a diamond tiara worn by her grandmother, Queen Mary, in 1932.
The Queen is said to have told Prince Harry ‘Meghan cannot have whatever she wants,’ after a row broke out over which tiara she would wear on her wedding day in 2018
However the authors of Finding Freedom, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, claim Harry felt the Queen’s dresser Angela Kelly had deliberately dragged her feet while trying to help decide on what tiara to wear, The Sun reports.
At the time of the row, The Queen is said to have told Prince Harry, according to a Royal insider: ‘Meghan cannot have whatever she wants. She gets what tiara she’s given by me.’
‘The Queen also questioned why Meghan needed a veil for the wedding, given it was to be her second marriage’, the source alleged, adding that: ‘Meghan can be difficult’.
Ms Kelly, 52, has worked with the Queen since 2002 and rose through the ranks to become her personal assistant and senior dresser.
Angela Kelly, the Queen’s personal assistant, stuck by Her Majesty’s decision to pick a different tiara than the one Meghan wanted
Reports in The Sun suggest she stuck by the Queen’s decision to pick a different tiara than the one Meghan wanted.
The Sussexes were said to be furious after Meghan was told she could not wear the emerald tiara she’d chosen, as nobody was sure where it came from.
According to People Magazine, Finding Freedom, due for release on August 11, is said to shed light on the row, while discussing the ‘friction between the couple and the old palace guard.’
Robert Jobson’s book ‘Charles At Seventy: Thoughts, Hopes And Dreams,’ published in 2018, describe Prince Harry as ‘petulant and short-tempered’ in the build up to the Windsor Castle wedding.
The Queen passed on her grandmother’s diamond tiara to Meghan Markle for her wedding day in 2018, but Prince Harry’s bride was reportedly keen to have an emerald one instead
He allegedly told staff with a raised voice: ‘What Meghan wants, Meghan gets’ and when reports of his ‘tiresome behaviour’ reached the Queen who asked to see her grandson privately and she ‘put him firmly in his place’, Mr Jobson wrote.
In 2018 Meghan said the Queen Mary Diamond Bandeau was the ‘perfect’ choice for her wedding, describing how she wanted her bridal look to be ‘incredibly timeless’ yet ‘still modern’.
Speaking for an exhibition where the tiara was being displayed at the time, she said: ‘When it came to the tiara on the day, I was very fortunate to be able to choose this gorgeous art deco style bandeau tiara.
Her Majesty was said to have put Prince Harry ‘firmly in his place,’ ahead of the Royal wedding
‘Harry and I had gone to Buckingham Palace to meet with Her Majesty The Queen to select one of the options that were there, which was an incredibly surreal day as you can imagine.
‘And that was the one that, I think, as we tried them on, stood out.’
Speaking about the tiara she eventually chose, she continued: ‘I think it was just perfect because it was so clean and simple – and also to that point, an extension of what Clare and I had been trying to do with the dress which was have something that could be so incredibly timeless but still feel modern.’
Meghan’s something borrowed: Which tiara did she wear?
The sparkling tiara Meghan wore on her wedding was the Queen Mary’s Diamond Bandeau, which was loaned to her by Harry’s grandmother the Queen from the Royal Collection.
Royal brides are traditionally loaned priceless heirlooms to wear on their wedding day.
Meghan could have chosen the Spencer tiara – famously worn by Harry’s later mother Diana, Princess of Wales when she married the Prince of Wales in 1981.
But Meghan has instead selected this little known piece, which features a magnificent floral-shaped suspended brooch in the centre made of a large round diamond surrounded by nine smaller circular diamonds.
It was specifically made for the Queen’s grandmother Queen Mary in 1932 to accommodate the detachable brooch, which was given to Mary as a wedding present in 1893 by the County of Lincoln.
The bandeau is a flexible band of 11 intricate glittering sections, pierced with interlaced ovals and pave set with large and small brilliant diamonds.
The bandeau and the brooch were bequeathed by Queen Mary to her granddaughter the Queen on her death in 1953.
Meghan Markle wore a diamond tiara belonging to the Queen’s grandmother Queen Mary (LEFT). The stunning piece was designer for Queen Mary (right) in 1932 and features a diamond brooch she received as a wedding present in 1893
The bandeau, chosen from Her Majesty’s collection, is formed as a flexible band of eleven sections, pierced with interlaced ovals and pavÈ set with large and small brilliant diamonds
Meghan’s sparkling tiara is Queen Mary’s Diamond Bandeau, which has been loaned to her by Harry’s grandmother the Queen