Meghan Markle Almost Had a Completely Different Wedding Look

When Meghan Markle married Prince Harry on May 19, 2018, she made bridal fashion history in her iconic Givenchy dress and glittering Queen Mary tiara. However, her wedding look could have been completely different if the actress-turned-royal got her way. 

In Battle of Brothers: William & Henry by royal historian Robert Lacy, the author claimed that Markle wanted to wear an emerald and diamond tiara on her wedding day instead of the crown that Queen Elizabeth II lent her. 

“Unconfirmed by the palace—but not denied—we were told that the queen felt that she had to say ‘no’ to Meghan’s first choice, a beautiful emerald headdress that was said ‘to have come from Russia,’” Lacy wrote. “This was code for sensitive origin, meaning that the treasure was one of those that had found its way into Windsor hands through ‘undefined,’ not to say dodgy channels—and for an undisclosed price—in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution.”

The royals insider went on to explain that the queen denied the Duchess of Sussex’s accessory wishes because the crown reportedly had a scandal attached to it. “It would suit neither the palace nor Meghan herself that spring if newspapers started speculating about which Tsarist princess had worn the tiara and how she had been assassinated,” the author stated. Upon hearing that his mother had disproved Markle’s wishes, the Duke of Sussex was reportedly angry, according to Lacy.

The diamond crown that the bride actually wore for her nuptials was made for Queen Mary's crowning in 1911. When the queen became monarch in 1953, she inherited the tiara. She then lent the headpiece to Markle for her 2018 wedding.