Prince Harry has denied shouting “what Meghan wants, Meghan gets” at the late Queen’s dresser in the alleged “Tiara-gate” row. In his memoir, the Duke of Sussex insists he did not make the infamous comment to Angela Kelly in a clash over which headpiece Meghan Markle would wear for their royal wedding.
Setting out his version of events in Spare, which is out on Tuesday but was put on sale early in some Spanish bookshops sparking a flurry of revelations, Harry says one of his mother’s sisters had earlier offered his bride one of Princess Diana’s tiaras.
But shortly before the wedding day in May 2018, the Duke says his grandmother offered Meghan access to the Royal Collection.
The 38-year-old writes: “She even invited us to Buckingham Palace to try them on. ‘Do come over’, I remember her saying.”
Harry describes being shown to the Queen’s private dressing room where she was standing alongside an expert who knew the history of the tiaras. Ms Kelly, the monarch’s dresser and close confidante, was also present.
The Duke says the Queen gave his bride five tiaras to choose from, and when she picked Queen Mary’s Diamond Bandeau the monarch advised her to try it on with her hairdresser ahead of the wedding day.
But the Duke claims that when he later contacted Ms Kelly to arrange the session she did not respond.
He claims that when he did catch up with the Queen’s dresser she told him that taking the tiara out of the Palace for an appointment with Meghan’s hairdresser “can’t be done”.
Harry says Ms Kelly later “appeared out of thin air” at Kensington Palace with a release form for him to sign before handing over the tiara.
According to the Daily Mail, he writes: “She fixed me with a look that made me shiver. I could read in her face a clear warning. This isn’t over.”
It comes after reports Harry shouted “what Meghan wants, Meghan gets” as tensions erupted ahead of his royal wedding.
Royal author Robert Jobson wrote in a 2018 book: “The weeks leading up to the wedding had been far more tense for both Harry and Meghan than most people realised.
“In the build-up to the wedding, says an inside source, he was ‘petulant and short-tempered’ with members of staff.
“Raising his voice on occasion, Harry would insist: ‘What Meghan wants, she gets’.”
Meanwhile, royal biographer Robert Lacey said in his 2020 book: “Not for the first time, nor sadly the last, the word ‘no’ pushed a button inside him and he flew into a rage.
“There were dressers and flunkies present, guarding and organising the jewels, so it was inevitable that his now-famous exclamation should find its way to the outside world – What Meghan wants, Meghan gets!
“Her Majesty did not approve. ‘Meghan cannot have whatever she wants,’ she was reported to have replied. ‘She gets the tiara that she’s given by me.'”
