Meghan Markle found herself at the center of online controversy after sharing a series of never-before-seen photos from her wedding to Prince Harry to celebrate their eighth anniversary together. The former actress and the Duke of Sussex tied the knot at St. George’s Chapel in the United Kingdom on May 19, 2018, with guests Serena Williams, Gayle King, David Beckham, George Clooney and Oprah Winfrey in attendance.The post featured plenty of intimate moments from the day, including Meghan wrapping her arms around Harry on the dance floor, Harry kissing his bride after a toast, and a mother-daughter moment between Meghan and Doria Ragland. Images also emerged of Elton John and Harry hugging Isabel May, PR director and Meghan’s close friend. There was no mention or picture of the groom’s family in the post.
Meghan Markle’s anniversary message reignited old wedding drama
The post quickly sparked a debate online, receiving hundreds of reactions from social media users. According to Bored Panda, many took issue with the publication’s portrayal of the wedding as a purely joyous event, pointing to accounts from Meghan’s 2021 interview and Harry’s 2023 ‘Spare’ memoir, which painted a much more complicated picture of the day’s start.“8 years full of the worst decisions a public figure can make,” wrote one social media user. Another added: “Haha, Elton John, but not just any royalty. Are you afraid to tell them to take it down or remind them they haven’t paid the ransom yet?”. A third wrote: “Absolutely pissed off that his importance has finally completely disappeared.” Since then, Meghan has turned off the comment section of the post, meaning no more public responses are visible below it.
The prom dress scandal involving Kate Middleton was rekindled
Among the tensions that reignited after the publication was a disagreement over bridesmaid dresses between Meghan and Kate Middleton in the days leading up to their wedding. The debate is said to have centered on the fit of the bridal gowns, particularly that of Kate’s daughter, Princess Charlotte.In the 2021 interview, Meghan confirmed that there had been a tense situation, but insisted that it was “not a confrontation”. Kate later said she regretted it and apologized, bringing flowers. “What was hard to overcome was being blamed for something I didn’t do, but something that happened to me,” Meghan said at the time. Kate denied crying, insisting the Princess of Wales had “hurt her feelings”.“In “Spare,” Harry wrote that Kate texted Meghan four days before the wedding saying Charlotte’s dress was “too big, too long, too baggy” and that she cried when she tried it on. When Meghan suggested that the palace dressmaker adjust the dress, Kate reportedly said that all the bridal gowns would have to be completely recreated. Harry returned home to find Meghan “sobbing on the kitchen floor”.
The issue of the tiara also came into focus again
The disagreement over the tiara Meghan wanted to wear with her Givenchy wedding dress was also revisited. According to ‘Spare’, Queen Elizabeth gave her approval for Meghan to borrow the Queen Mary Diamond Bandeau, but the situation escalated when the Queen’s aide Angela Kelly informed the couple that Meghan had not taken the tiara for a trial session with her hairdresser.Close to the wedding day, Harry wrote, Kelly “spontaneously” told the couple the deal could not go ahead. “I thought about going to Grandma’s, but that would probably lead to a whole fight, and I wasn’t really sure whose side Grandma would take,” she wrote in the memoir.Eight years on from their wedding day, the anniversary message seems to have sparked as many questions as fond memories, with the backstage tensions of the time showing little sign of fading from public memory.
