Meghan Markle was set to attend Pippa Middleton’s wedding ceremony until the actual day

‘While all the other guests were at the ceremony, Meghan changed into a decidedly unflashy long black gown and did her own makeup.’

While being a royal certainly has its advantages, it also definitely has its drawbacks, something that Meghan Markle has found out the hard way.

Becoming a Mountbatten-Windsor means subjecting yourself to a life of stifling rules, the end of privacy and the dreaded rumour mill.

Meghan Markle suffered a particularly turbulent start to royal life, made the focus of constant slander and according to some sources, struggling behind doors to get to terms with royal protocol. Sources told People that the Duchess found the rules against her speaking out to defend herself to the press particularly hard to deal with.

Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand's new royal biography, Finding Freedom, weighs in on Meghan's struggle, from the bikini photographs taken by paparazzi that enraged Prince Harry to her relationship with Kate Middleton and rumours of the feud.

This week, it was her appearance at Pippa Middleton's wedding that made news, as the biography explained how the then Hollywood actress was scheduled to attend the ceremony until the day of the wedding. It was reportedly decided that she should miss it after a tabloid published a story comparing Pippa and Meghan's bottoms.

'The day of the nuptials, The Sun ran a cover story, "It’s Meghan v Pippa in the...Wedding of the Rears," accompanied by a rear-view paparazzi picture of Meghan in yoga pants leaving a central London yoga studio that week side by side with the infamous photo of Pippa from behind during Kate’s 2011 wedding ceremony. Harry and Meghan agreed that she couldn’t possibly turn up at the church, only fifty meters away from a specially arranged media pen, after such a crass cover story.'

Calling Meghan 'somewhat of a reluctant addition' to Pippa and James' wedding guest list, the journalists explained: 'Both the bride and her mum, Carole, privately harboured concerns that the American actress’s presence alongside Harry might overshadow the main event.'

This, they continued, was something Meghan wanted to avoid, determined 'not to make a misstep at Pippa's wedding.'

According to the book, Harry and Meghan drove to Bucklebury together, and Prince Harry dropped Meghan off at an AirBnB while he attended the ceremony.

'While all the other guests were at the ceremony, Meghan changed into a decidedly unflashy long black gown and did her own makeup,' Finding Freedom states.

Later, Harry returned to pick up his then girlfriend, and the two slipped subtly into the evening reception.

Well, that's lovely.