When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle went on a three-day visit to Morocco in February 2019, Meghan’s outfit drew significant attention — particularly a dress by Christian Dior. Royal commentator Robert Jobson claims that the Duchess of Sussex’s expensive wardrobe “caused astonishment.”
He notes that her Dior dress, valued at around £60,000, angered the Queen when she read about it in the press. “She may not be concerned with fashion, but she certainly cares about style, and style tends to endure longer,” the article states.
Growing up during wartime may have also inspired Queen Elizabeth to favor classic pieces and avoid ostentation in her clothing. Her caution to Meghan about wearing such an expensive dress on an official tour was not the only reported instance where the Queen and the Duchess were said to differ in their views on style.
It has been widely reported that Meghan Markle wanted to wear a special tiara for her wedding to Prince Harry in May 2018. According to Jobson, “The Queen’s trusted dresser, Angela Kelly, refused to allow it due to concerns about its Russian origins.” He writes that the situation “caused stress for the Sussexes” and claims that Harry “even snapped at Kelly,” leading the Queen to explain to him that Meghan could not wear the tiara. It was “not only a matter of origin but also one of precedence.”
As the wife of Prince William, who is currently first in line to the throne, Kate holds a higher status than Meghan, as does Queen Camilla. The Duchess of Sussex is also not a princess by birth, unlike Harry’s cousins Eugenie and Beatrice, and Eugenie was allowed to wear the Greville Tiara at her own wedding five months later.
Harry recalled in his memoirs that the tiara selection process was somewhat different. He and Meghan entered the Queen’s private wardrobe with her and Angela Kelly, where they were shown the options. “Grandma very gently said to Meg: ‘Tiaras suit you.’ Meg melted,” he wrote, noting that the tiara she chose “was apparently made” for his future wife.
On her wedding day, the Duchess of Sussex wore Queen Mary’s bandeau tiara, adorned with large and small diamonds and featuring a removable central brooch. The piece was created in 1932 for Queen Elizabeth’s grandmother, Queen Mary, and Meghan is the only royal of recent generations to have worn it on her wedding day.
