How King Charles's sweet gesture to Meghan Markle made late Queen feel 'uncomfortable'

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s lavish Windsor ceremony took place in May 2018 and was watched by an estimated 1.9billion people.

The loved-up couple and their family and friends were married in St George’s Chapel in the presence of 600 guests. As was widely publicised, there was much tension in the weeks building up to the ceremony, but once the big day arrived everything seemed to be running smoothly.

Unfortunately, there was one gesture made at the wedding which left the late Queen less than impressed, according to Royal biographer Ingrid Seward.

Just a few days before Harry and Meghan’s wedding, Meghan’s father announced he would not be attending due to ill health, leaving his daughter with nobody to walk her down the aisle. King Charles graciously stepped in to save the day, but although his gesture was well-meaning, according to Seward’s latest book it left the Queen feeling uncomfortable.

In her book, My Mother and I, Ingrid Seward says: "The Queen was not comfortable with the Prince of Wales standing in for Meghan's father, Thomas Markle, and was similarly concerned about a 96-year-old Prince Philip walking down the aisle without a stick, having had a hip replacement only five weeks before."

After the wedding, it came to light that Harry was the one who had decided to ask his father to stand in and walk his wife-to-be down the aisle. He recalled this in the documentary Prince, Son and Heir: Charles at 70.

In the documentary, Harry said: "I asked him to and I think he knew it was coming and he immediately said, 'Yes, of course, I'll do whatever Meghan needs and I'm here to support you."

This comes after another book, Queen of Our Times, claimed Meghan left Charles surprised by her assertive reply when he did offer to walk her down the aisle.

In the book, author Robert Hardman said: "The reply, according to one friend, was not quite what he was expecting: 'Can we meet halfway?' Here was an indicator that this was no blushing bride, but a confident, independent woman determined to make a grand entrance on her own."

The then Prince Charles walking Meghan down the aisle wasn’t the only tradition-busting upset that left the Queen concerned. According to Seward, the Queen was also unhappy with the colour of Meghan Markle’s dress.

Seward writes: "Lady Elizabeth told me that the Queen had made only one remark to her about Meghan and Harry's wedding, which was that the bride's Givenchy wedding gown was 'too white'. In the monarch's view, it was not appropriate for a divorcee getting remarried in church to look quite so flamboyantly virginal."

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been estranged from King Charles and the rest of the Royal family since 2020, and currently live in California with their two children, Archie and Lillibet.