Prince Harry and Meghan Markle wed in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle back in May 2018. At the time, it seemed like the pair were destined for a life as a royal couple, but that promptly changed years later.
These days, Harry and Meghan now live in Montecito, California, and seem to be enjoying life outside of the royal sphere. Yet that hasn’t stopped them appearing in all sorts of headlines on both sides of the Atlantic.
The latest sees Princess Diana’s former butler Paul Burell spilling his thoughts on why Harry actually wed Meghan Markle to begin with.
His opinion? It has a lot to do with Harry’s late mother.
In July of 2016, a friend set up a blind date between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. It turned out to be a smash-hit.
“I was beautifully surprised when I walked into that room and saw her,” Harry told Vogue. “I was like, I’m really going to have to up my game here.”
Harry & Meghan Markle – love story
A few weeks later, Harry took Meghan to Botswana, where their relationship really took off.
Botswana would hold special significance just a few years later, as the centerpiece diamond in Meghan’s three-stone engagement ring would come from the country.
Interestingly, things could’ve turned out differently regarding the ring, as it was actually Harry who possessed the ring worn by his mother, Princess Diana. According to reports, however, he decided to give it to his brother, Prince William, for his 2010 marriage to Kate Middleton.
Fans of the royals might know that at the time of Harry and Meghan’s engagement, things were going rather well as regards their private lives. Harry was a darling son of Diana, and well-liked by the British public, while Meghan had been very close with her father and mother throughout her childhood and through college. Her father, Thomas Markle, helped her pay tuition, and aided her in landing an acting gig on the big television show, General Hospital.
In short, he did his utmost to support her. Which is why the debacle that occurred shortly before daughter Meghan’s marriage into the British Royal Family was so significant.
In November 2017, Harry and Meghan officially announced that they were engaged.
The couple’s beautiful wedding took place on May 19, 2018. The service was held at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.
Alleged feud with Kate before the wedding
From the outside, the union of Harry and Meghan was seen as a picture-perfect wedding. Of course, the reality is that hosting such a huge event comes with a lot of stress, especially for the bride and groom.
Despite their lofty status, Harry and Meghan were no different to the average couple in this regard.
In the days leading up to the wedding, reports surfaced suggesting that Meghan had made Kate Middleton cry. This was said to have happened during the wedding rehearsals, allegedly over guidelines as to what Princess Charlotte could wear as a flower girl.
Representatives from The Firm didn’t deny the claim, effectively pouring fuel on the fire of already rampant speculation. Meghan, meanwhile, would wait until her and Harry’s now-infamous interview with Oprah Winfrey to tell her side of the story.
According to Meghan, the opposite of what was printed had actually happened.
Meghan claimed that Kate was the one who made her cry, a revelation that is said to have left the latter fuming.
Fast forward to present, and things seem to be better between Meghan and Kate once more. Following the birth of Harry and Meghan’s daughter Lilibet, Kate expressed that she was looking forward to meeting the family of four.
Harry & Meghan – tiara drama
Only time will tell if Meghan and Kate will once again become good friends, but the reported crying incident before the wedding wasn’t the only happening to be attached to Harry and Meghan.
Apparently, Queen Elizabeth grew irritated with Harry for one particular reason.
For the wedding, Meghan wore a dress made by British designer Clare Waight Keller, under the Givenchy label. But it was her tiara that became a controversial point within the Royal Family, according to Royal author Omid Scobie.
Meghan wore Queen Mary’s beautiful diamond tiara for the big day. This decision, though, wasn’t one that the Queen agreed with.
Speaking with True Royalty TV’s The Royal Beat, the aforementioned Scobie said that the two weeks prior to the royal wedding were stressful indeed. The Queen’s dressmaker and close friend Angela Kelly reportedly made things very tricky while arranging practice fittings.
“The drama took place afterwards when Meghan wanted to try that tiara on with her hairstylist, because there is a lot of tech that goes into this,” Scobie said, as quoted by Express.
“I don’t know what the hell is going on”
“They had to do an experiment with that before the wedding day. The hairstylist came in from overseas, there was an appointment at Buckingham Palace, but nobody was there.”
Meghan struggled to arrange a booking, and that’s when Harry decided to step in and save the day. But things got heated when Harry called the Queen for help.
“Each time Angela Kelly was not available to arrange this, to facilitate this, despite agreeing to,” Scobie said.
“It got to the point where staff around Harry and Meghan were tearing their hair out because the wedding was a couple of weeks away, months had passed at this point.”
He added: “Harry had to intervene. He called his grandmother and said, ‘I don’t know what the hell is going on, but this woman needs to make this work for my future wife.’ Harry felt that there were those within the institution that would stop at nothing to at the very least make Meghan’s life difficult.”
Ultimately, Meghan didn’t get to try on the tiara until just days before the wedding. According to Scobie, Kelly was left heartbroken by reports that she hadn’t cooperated with the couple. However, she didn’t say anything out of fear of upsetting The Firm.
In hindsight, it looks like Harry simply wanted to intervene in a bid to make things easier for his beloved wife. Only, his reaction left the Queen furious.
Speaking to the Mail, a royal source said: “Angela essentially said, ‘I’m very sorry, that’s not how it works.’ There’s protocol in place over these jewels.’”
Harry & Meghan – two weddings in three days
“They’re kept under very tight lock and key. You can’t turn up and demand to have the tiara just because your hairdresser happens to be in town.”
The source further claimed that Harry’s “rude language” in his response forced Queen Elizabeth to take action and pull her grandson into a private meeting.
As we all now know, the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan was a glorious one, despite the alleged drama that took place beforehand.
Of course, that’s if it was indeed the actual wedding? During the infamous Oprah interview, Harry and Meghan revealed that they actually held another wedding ceremony three days before the one that took place at St. George’s Chapel.
“Three days before our wedding, we got married — no one knows that,” Meghan said. “We called the archbishop and we just said, look, this thing, this spectacle, is for the world, but we want our union between us,” she said.
She added: “Just the two of us in our backyard with the archbishop of Canterbury.”
Meghan and Harry’s new life in the US
The Archbishop of Canterbury was quick to weigh in on the matter, insisting that the wedding with the guests – and the millions of people watching around the world – was indeed the real one.
“The legal wedding was on the Saturday,” he told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
“I signed the wedding certificate, which is a legal document, and I would have committed a serious criminal offense if I signed it knowing it was false.”
Harry and Meghan have now been married for nearly four years, and have welcomed two beautiful children. After splitting from the Royal Family and moving to the US, the power couple bought a beautiful home in Montecito, just outside of Santa Barbara, California. The picturesque town is the home of many Hollywood celebrities who want to leave the hectic, paparazzi-ridden streets of Los Angeles behind.
Notable neighbors of Harry and Meghan include Ellen DeGeneres and Oprah Winfrey. It was actually in the latter’s garden that they took part in the controversial interview we mentioned before
Though they are happily married, one person has argued that the reason that’s the case isn’t simply because love dictates that Harry and Meghan are determined to make it work.
Diana’s butler claims this is why Harry & Meghan married
Princess Diana’s butler, Paul Burrell, instead claims that the two work so well together because Meghan is very similar to the late Princess Diana, Harry’s mother.
Speaking with Closer, Burrell said: “Harry went for and married Meghan because she’s like Diana. [They are] both women who would always stand up for what they believe in and wouldn’t be pushovers.”
Though Burrell argues that Diana and Meghan are very similar, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’d be best friends were Diana still alive.
“I think, possibly, they would have clashed,” he said.
“I imagine it would have been two strong, independent women with different views on things—it would have been a battle between Meghan’s way and Diana’s way.”
When it comes to media interest in the Royal Family, both Diana and Meghan received harsh treatment, though the paparazzi were arguably even worse in Diana’s day.
According to The Guardian, the paparazzi press were offering up to $500,000 for grainy pictures of her at the height of her fame.
Meghan Markle had a “game plan”
Paul Burrell argues that Meghan might have had an easier time than Diana, mostly because she was already a celebrity and in the spotlight. According to Diana’s former butler, that allowed her a better grasp of the media as she headed into the royal sphere.
“I think the main difference between them is that Meghan has a game plan, whereas Diana was young and naïve,” Paul Burrell said, as per Yahoo.
“Diana did the book with Andrew Morton and courted the press over the years because she didn’t have a voice. And her strong-mindedness meant she cared and she felt the people of the country had a right to know what had gone on behind closed doors.”
