Meghan Markle nearly walked down the aisle wearing the tiara belonging to the late Princess Diana, that’s until Queen Elizabeth stepped in.
Writing in his book Spare, Prince Harry revealed that he was “touched” when his mother’s sisters, Lady Jane Fellowes and Lady Sarah McCorquodale, asked if the couple wanted to borrow one of Princess Diana’s tiaras for their wedding.
But the late Queen already had other ideas, asking Harry and Meghan to attend a private appointment with her at Buckingham Palace, just days before the wedding nuptials.
Once they arrived at the palace they found the Queen had personally picked out five of her tiaras for Meghan to wear on the big day.
A jewellery expert, an eminent historian and the Queen’s dresser and confidante Angela Kelly were all present while the pair picked out the perfect tiara.
Harry wrote: “Shortly before the wedding, however, Granny reached out. She offered us access to her collection of tiaras. She even invited us to Buckingham Palace to try them on. Do come over, I remember her saying.
“Extraordinary morning. We walked into Granny’s private dressing room, right next to her bedroom, a space I’d never been in.
“Along with Granny was a jewellery expert, an eminent historian who knew the lineage of each stone in the royal collection. Also present was Granny’s dresser and confidante, Angela.”
“One was all emeralds. One was aquamarines. Each was more dazzlingly stunning than the last.”
Meghan eventually picked out an ornate art-deco style tiara for her wedding day, which was given to the Queen’s grandmother, Queen Mary, as a wedding present in 1893.
Her wedding outfit was completed by a simple white gown designed by Clare Waight Keller of French fashion house Givenchy and finished off with a long white veil.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, got married on May 19, 2018 at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.
