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Prince Harry Reveals Why Meghan Markle Didn’t Wear Princess Diana’s Tiara at Their Wedding After All

Queen Elizabeth was involved

prince harry meghan markle wedding tiara
Aaron Chown/WPA Pool/Getty Images

I love hearing all the behind-the-scenes details about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding—including the hidden meaning behind the bride’s entrance song and how they hired Idris Elba as the DJ. Still, I never knew the story behind Markle’s tiara. 

prince harry meghan markle wedding tiara
Dominic Lipinski/WPA Pool/Getty Images

In a newly resurfaced excerpt from his memoir Spare, the Duke of Sussex shared never-before-heard details about wedding planning. Prince Harry revealed that Markle almost wore the Spencer tiara, which was previously worn by Princess Diana on her wedding day. Although the piece belongs to the Spencer family, Diana’s sisters offered it to Markle for the special occasion. 

“We were both touched,” Prince Harry wrote. “Meg then spent hours and hours with her dress designer, getting the veil to match the tiara, giving it a similar scalloped edge.”

prince harry meghan markle wedding tiara
BEN STANSALL/POOL/AFP/Getty Images

Shortly before the wedding, plans changed. It all started when Queen Elizabeth offered Markle a tiara from her collection. “We walked into Granny’s private dressing room, right next to her bedroom, a space I’d never been in,” Prince Harry added. “Along with Granny was a jewelry expert, an eminent historian who knew the lineage of each stone in the royal collection.” 

The queen selected five tiaras for Markle to choose from.  “One was all emeralds. One was aquamarines. Each was more dazzlingly stunning than the last,” Prince Harry said. Ultimately, she selected Queen Mary’s bandeau headpiece.

Prince Harry also recalled a heartfelt moment between Markle and Queen Elizabeth, writing, “Granny said to Meg quite tenderly, ‘Tiaras suit you.’ Meg melted.”

That's quite the piece of royal history.

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greta

Senior Editor, News and Entertainment

  • Writes and edits news and entertainment content
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