The real story behind Meghan Markle's wedding tiara drama

(Image credit: 2018 Pool/Max Mumby)

The new royal biography about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, Finding Freedom, carries on to make waves since extracts from it started to be published in newspapers worldwide this past weekend.

One extract shared by People revealed that in their early days of dating, a necklace worn by Meghan Markle caused controversy at the Palace, who allegedly said it was too attention seeking.

The authors behind the book, royal correspondents Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand have also shed a little light on the alleged drama surrounding Meghan's choice of tiara for her wedding day.

We all know she wore the stunning art deco Queen Mary bandeau tiara, which Prince Harry helped her pick out. But this wasn't her first choice, as she initially wanted one that feature emeralds. Rumour has it that this was refused as no one really knew where the tiara came from.

A source said at the time, 'There was a very heated exchange that prompted the Queen to speak to Harry. She said, "Meghan cannot have whatever she wants. She gets what tiara she’s given by me".'

The new book adds more detail to the drama, claiming that it was in fact Angela Kelly, the Queen's dresser, who 'deliberately dragged her feet' in the process, and possibly influenced Her Majesty's decision.

The couple have denied taking part in the book, so of course this incident hasn’t been confirmed. A representative of the couple said in a statement, ‘The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were not interviewed and did not contribute to Finding Freedom. This book is based on the authors’ own experiences as members of the royal press corps and their own independent reporting.’

Penny Goldstone

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.