Meghan smiled and waved to fans who had gathered to celebrate her fairy-tale wedding to Prince Harry – but the Duchess struggled with her 16ft-long veil at a crucial moment

A royal expert revealed the reason Meghan Markle struggled with her wedding veil when she married husband Prince Harry.

The Duchess’ minimalist silk £200,000 Givenchy wedding gown stunned the world as she tied the knot with the prince on Saturday May 19, 2018. Their wedding ceremony appeared to be stripped of stuffy formality as millions of people tuned in to watch their fairy-tale wedding unfold.

Meghan smiled and waved to fans who had gathered to celebrate her wedding to the prince – then 33 – before going up the steps to the church. Her extensive veil, decorated with flowers representing all 53 countries of the Commonwealth, was carried by two of her page boys.

But the dress’ 16ft-long veil became a problem, as it got caught when she stepped out of the Rolls-Royce as she arrived at St George’s Chapel in Windsor. Footage from the day shows Meghan’s veil had become twisted in the vehicle – and another aide along with dress designer Clare Waight Keller for Givenchy rushed to assist her.

Meghan’s veil caused a huge problem when she arrived at St George’s Chapel ( 
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Getty Images)

However, a military man who was tasked with opening the car door for Meghan did not offer his help. And according to Tom Bower, the author of Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors, he didn’t want to assist due to what had happened the previous day.

During an episode of the Mirror’s Pod Save the Queen podcast in August 2022, Mr Bower claimed: “A military man told me an extraordinary story about Meghan when she arrived at the wedding at Windsor Castle on that glorious day in 2018. You see her get out of the car unaccompanied and she has problems with the train of her dress and the army officer doesn’t step forward to help her.

“And the reason is, is the day before in the rehearsal, she had been very rude to him so he thought ‘well I’m not going to help you today’. I didn’t get the story from him but a fellow officer of his, who explained what had happened.”

Royal author Tom Bower explained why Meghan struggled with her 16ft veil ( 
Image:
AFP/Getty Images)

Millions of people tuned in to watch the fairy-tale wedding unfold ( 
Image:
PA)
Eventually Meghan managed to sort out the veil herself and stepped out of the car, but she refused to take the arm of a different escorting officer.

“Ms Waight Keller designed a veil representing the distinctive flora of each Commonwealth country united in one spectacular floral composition,” Kensington Palace said of the show-stopping piece. The Commonwealth family of nations – of which Her Majesty The Queen is Head – will be a central part of Prince Harry’s and Ms Markle’s official work following His Royal Highness’s appointment as Commonwealth Youth Ambassador.

“Ms Markle wanted to express her gratitude for the opportunity to support the work of the Commonwealth by incorporating references to its members into the design of her wedding dress. Significant time was spent researching the flora of each Commonwealth country and much care was taken by Ms Waight Keller to ensure that every flower is unique.”

Meghan and Harry tied the knot in August 2018 ( 
Image:
Getty Images)One of the biggest guests at the wedding by far was Harry’s late grandmother the Queen – and many have wondered what she thought of the nuptials. And according to the book My Mother and I by royal biographer Ingrid Seward, the only remark the late monarch made about Harry and Meghan’s wedding was regarding the bride’s white, flowing Givenchy wedding gown.

The expert writes: “Lady Elizabeth [Anson] told me that the Queen had made only one remark to her about Meghan and Harry’s wedding, which was that the bride’s Givenchy wedding gown was ‘too white’. In the monarch’s view, it was not appropriate for a divorcee getting remarried in church to look quite so flamboyantly virginal.”