Prince Harry was completely smitten with Meghan Markle from the start. Their romance began in 2016, leading to an engagement the following year and a wedding in 2018.
While the late Queen Elizabeth II kept her feelings private, the speed of the relationship raised concerns behind the closed doors of the palace. According to royal biographer Hugo Vickers, who is working on a new book about the monarch, there were notable complications behind the scenes.
Vickers reveals that the Queen advised her grandson to take things more slowly, suggesting he wait a year before marrying the Suits actor. However, the Duke of Sussex chose to move forward without delay, pushing ahead with the wedding just six months after his engagement.
In his upcoming book, Queen Elizabeth II: A Personal History, Vickers writes, “The Queen herself suggested that Harry should wait a year. He did not take her advice. Instead, as we know, the wedding went ahead just over six months after the couple’s engagement.”
The situation became more complicated when Meghan chose a Givenchy gown for the big day. While the dress was striking in its simplicity, the late queen reportedly disapproved, finding it “too white with ungainly shoulders.”
Vickers details the drama, noting, “It was said that the Queen did not like the dress – too white and with ungainly shoulders. Someone close to the monarch told me her attitude to the actual wedding was, ‘You get on with it. It’s nothing to do with me.’”
This account provides a rare glimpse into the friction that was quietly brewing behind the scenes as Meghan Markle was welcomed—and, at times, resisted—by the royal institution.
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