Hardman Book Details Meghan Tiara Row
A new account of the pre-wedding tensions between Meghan Markle and Queen Elizabeth II has resurfaced claims about a disagreement over the Duchess of Sussex’s wedding tiara. The episode, linked to the 2018 preparations for Meghan’s marriage to Prince Harry at St George’s Chapel in Windsor, is described in a forthcoming book by royal author Mr Robert Hardman.
Hello Magazine reported that Hardman writes the late Queen hoped to “bond” with Meghan by offering a piece from her personal tiara collection, but that the bride-to-be attended the selection with Prince Harry, which a staffer claimed changed the tone of the meeting.
In extracts cited in the report, Hardman quotes a royal staffer saying it was the Queen’s “lovely way of bonding with the bride” and that the same approach had been taken with the Duchess of Edinburgh and the Princess of Wales. The article also revisits Prince Harry’s account in his memoir Spare, in which he described frustration over arrangements to borrow Queen Mary’s Diamond Bandeau, and contrasts it with sources close to the palace who alleged the Queen’s dresser, Ms Angela Kelly, returned the tiara promptly and objected to pressure placed on her.
The latest claims follow other reporting around the run-up to the Sussexes’ wedding, including assertions in a separate book allegation about Prince Harry’s behaviour toward the Queen during preparations for the ceremony.
Meghan ultimately wore Queen Mary’s Diamond Bandeau on her wedding day, a piece dating back to 1932 and featuring a detachable central brooch with earlier links to Queen Mary. The competing versions of events underline how royal household memories and the Sussexes’ own accounts have continued to diverge years after the wedding.
