Meghan Markle Bridesmaids' Dress Drama Was 'Excuse' to Vent Royal Rift

Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton's infamous bridesmaids' dress drama in 2018 had little to do with the fashion technicalities. Rather, it was more about the sister-in-laws' underlying issues, a fashion expert has told Newsweek's The Royal Report podcast.

News that a dispute had arisen between Meghan and Kate over the bridesmaids' dress worn at Harry and Meghan's royal wedding first broke in 2019. The British media ran stories that said Meghan had made Kate cry during an argument.

In her television interview with Oprah Winfrey two years later, Meghan said that the pair had an altercation over the dress. However, she added it was Kate who made her cry, and that she had later offered her an apology.

The most-detailed account of what the dispute was about came from Prince Harry in his 2023 memoir, Spare, in which he wrote that Kate had been unreasonably difficult.

"There was a problem with the dresses for the bridesmaids, apparently," he wrote of Kate's complaint. "They needed altering. The dresses were French couture, hand-sewn from measurements only. So it wasn't a big shock that they might need altering."

After being told by Meghan that there was a tailor at Kensington Palace who would make the alterations, Harry wrote that Kate refused. She said that the dress would need to be completely remade four days before the wedding because: "Charlotte's dress is too big, too long, too baggy. She cried when she tried it on at home."

Harry wrote that, afterwards, he found Meghan "on the floor. Sobbing."

Asked her professional opinion on the bridesmaids' dress saga, and whether Kate's request was feasible so soon before the wedding, celebrity stylist and royal fashion expert Miranda Holder told Newsweek's The Royal Report: "Absolutely."

"Within reason, there should be fit checks right up until the day before the event, so— obviously I wasn't there and I'm not part of everything that happened—it was possible for there to be alterations," Holder said. "And really a designer with a growing child [to consider] should account for that and be able to let things out or take things in."

The issue, which has been blown up online and in the media to infamous levels, is likely to have been little to do with the dresses. It is more to do with the relationship problems between the royals at the time, Holder added.

"I think that it's a symptom of the underlying issue between, well, the 'fab four' again, really, and I don't think they're getting on particularly well anyway. It's a bit of an excuse," Holder said.

"It's like, you know, I'm having a row with my husband over how he likes his coffee, but the real problem is something much bigger than that or whatever," she added.

"I think it was literally just everything had got so fraught, and there's also a big cultural difference between Kate and Meghan. And I think I don't think this helps."

For her part, Kate has not publicly responded to the comments made about the bridesmaids' dress story or Meghan's reaction.

Meghan was absent at the coronation of King Charles III on May 6. It would have been the first opportunity for her to reunite publicly with her sister-in-law at a royal event since the publication of Harry's memoir.

Instead, an April statement from Buckingham Palace announced that Harry would make the journey to Britain for the historic ceremony. However, the duchess would remain in California with the couple's two children, Prince Archie, 4, and Princess Lilibet, 1.

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.