Meghan Markle reveals the romantic way she surprised Prince Harry and the royal family on her wedding day
In "Queen of the World," a new documentary on HBO, the Duchess of Sussex shared that she included a piece of blue fabric from the dress she wore on her first date with Harry as the “something blue,” stitched into her wedding veil.
“It's amazing isn't it? Wow, very pretty. Beautiful. Somewhere in here there’s a piece of…did you see it? The piece of blue fabric that's stitched inside? It’s my something blue,” Meghan remarked while inspecting the veil for the first time in the upcoming documentary. “It’s fabric from the dress that I wore on our first date.”
Meghan and Claire Waight Keller, the designer of her Givenchy gown, also collaborated to include embroidered flowers representing the 53 nations of the British Commonwealth into her wedding veil.
“It was important for me...now being a part of the Royal Family, to have all 53 of the Commonwealth countries incorporated,” said Meghan. “I knew that it would be a fun surprise as well for my now-husband, who didn't know, and he was really over the moon to find out that I would make this choice for our day together.”
Prince Harry was recently named the Commonwealth Youth Ambassador by Queen Elizabeth and the couple will shortly embark on a Commonwealth tour which will include visits to Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand.
“I think the other members of the family had a similar reaction and just appreciation for the fact that we understand how important this is for us and the role that we play, and the work that we're gonna continue to do within the Commonwealth countries,” said Meghan of her decision to include Commonwealth symbolism in her veil. “So, yeah, it was good news all around, I think, so I hope people liked it as much as I liked helping to create it.”
Meghan also included the poppy, the state flower of her home state of California, in a nod to her American roots in the veil on her wedding day.
Prince Harry and Meghan are expected to spend considerable time appealing to issues important to young people in their future work, who represent one-third of the population of the 53 Commonwealth member nations.
“The program across these four Commonwealth countries will focus on youth leadership, environmental and conservation efforts, including the dedication of several new Commonwealth Canopy projects [by the queen] and the recovery and rehabilitation of servicemen and women through the Invictus Games Sydney 2018,” Kensington Palace said in a statement.
The documentary also features appearances by Queen Elizabeth, Prince William and Prince Harry as they go about their work supporting the monarch.
Just this week Meghan launched a new cookbook at Kensington Palace with Prince Harry and her mother by her side, Doria’s first official royal engagement since her daughter's wedding in May.
Meghan, 37, collaborated on the cookbook, “Together: Our Community Cookbook,” with a group of female Grenfell Fire survivors. The Duchess of Sussex personally wrote the forward for the cookbook, which has shot to the to of the bestseller list.
"Queen of the World" premieres Monday, Oct. 1 on HBO at 8 p.m.
