Who Needs Bridesmaids? Markle's Unconventional Wedding Choices

When Meghan Markle married Prince Harry on 19 May 2018, she did not have a maid of honour. Markle was accompanied by six bridesmaids, including Princess Charlotte, but they were all children. A Kensington Palace spokesman said that Markle had a very close-knit group of friends and did not want to choose one over the other.

Markle didn't want to choose one friend over another

Meghan Markle did not have a maid of honour at her wedding to Prince Harry. Instead, she had six bridesmaids, including Princess Charlotte, Remi and Ryan Litt, Ivy Mulroney, Zalie Warren, and Florence van Custem.

Markle's decision to forgo a maid of honour was reportedly due to her not wanting to choose one friend over another. According to Jason Knauf, the communications secretary to Prince Harry, "She has a very close-knit group of friends and did not want to choose one over the other." This sentiment was echoed by a Kensington Palace spokesperson, who stated that Markle simply couldn't decide which of her pals to pick as her maid of honour.

Markle's choice to have a bridal party composed solely of children is also in line with British royal wedding traditions. According to royals expert Marlene Koenig, "if you look at the royal weddings since [Queen] Elizabeth's, you will find that most of the bridesmaids are early teens or children."

Royal wedding tradition meant attendants were children

Royal wedding tradition meant that Meghan Markle's attendants were children. Royal weddings in the UK tend to feature early teens or children as attendants, rather than the bride's close friends, as is more common in the US.

Markle's bridal party included six bridesmaids and four page boys. The bridesmaids were: Princess Charlotte, Ivy Mulroney, Florence van Cutsem, Remi Litt, Rylan Litt, and Zalie Warren. The page boys were: Prince George, Jasper Dyer, Brian Mulroney, and John Mulroney.

Markle's bridesmaids and page boys were selected from the children of her and Prince Harry's close friends and family. For example, Ivy Mulroney is the daughter of Meghan's best friend, Jessica Mulroney. Princess Charlotte and Prince George are the children of Harry's brother, Prince William.

Markle did not have a maid of honour at her wedding, as she did not want to choose one close friend over the others.

Markle's attendants were goddaughters and friends' children

Meghan Markle's bridal party included six bridesmaids and four page boys. Markle's attendants were the children of her and Prince Harry's close friends and family.

Markle's bridesmaids included her goddaughters Remi and Ryan Litt, who are sisters and the daughters of her close friend Benita Litt. Benita is said to be one of Markle's oldest friends, and Markle is the godmother of her two daughters. Another bridesmaid was Ivy Mulroney, the daughter of Markle's best friend, Canadian stylist Jessica Mulroney. Harry's goddaughters, Zalie Warren and Florence van Custem, were also bridesmaids.

The four page boys included Prince George, the oldest child of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and Harry's godson Jasper Dyer. The boys wore uniforms modelled on the Blues and Royals frockcoat, an old regiment of both Prince Harry and his best man, the Duke of Cambridge.

The bridesmaids wore Givenchy Haute Couture dresses

When Meghan Markle married Prince Harry in 2018, she did not have a maid of honour. Instead, she had six bridesmaids, all of whom were children. The bridesmaids wore dresses crafted from ivory silk Radzimir, with charming short puff sleeves, hand-finished with a double silk ribbon sash, tied at the back in a bow. The dresses were designed by Clare Waight Keller, the designer behind the Duchess's Givenchy Haute Couture bridal gown.

The six dresses were crafted in the Givenchy Haute Couture Atelier in Paris. Each was made with the finest ivory silk Radzimir and featured short puff sleeves. The dresses were hand-finished with a double silk ribbon, tied at the back in a bow. The bridesmaids also wore white leather Aquazurra shoes, monogrammed with their initials and the wedding date, which were gifted to them by Meghan as a memento of the day.

The designer, Clare Waight Keller, also designed Meghan's bridal gown. The dress was a bateau-neck Givenchy gown with three-quarter-length sleeves. It was made of simple silk crepe, with a structured waist and a train with triple silk organza. Meghan paired the dress with a 16-foot-long veil, embroidered with 53 flowers representing the Commonwealth and its 53 countries.

The bridesmaids' dresses were in keeping with the royal tradition of having children as attendants in British royal weddings. The six young bridesmaids added a touch of sweetness and charm to the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Markle had a fallout with Kate Middleton over the bridesmaids' dresses

Meghan Markle did not have a maid of honour at her wedding to Prince Harry. Instead, she had six bridesmaids, including Princess Charlotte, Remi and Ryan Litt, Ivy Mulroney, Zalie Warren, and Florence van Custem. Markle's bridesmaids wore dresses made of ivory silk Radzimir, with short puff sleeves, designed by Clare Waight Keller in the Givenchy Haute Couture Atelier in Paris.

In the lead-up to the wedding, there was a reported row between Markle and her sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, over the bridesmaids' dresses. The initial reports focused on Kate being left in tears, but Prince Harry later stated in his book, Spare, that it was Meghan whom he found "on the floor sobbing". The argument was reportedly over Princess Charlotte's dress, which did not fit her.

According to Harry, the text exchange between Kate and Meghan went as follows:

Kate: "Charlotte’s dress is too big, too long, too baggy. She cried when she tried it on at home."

Meghan: "Right, and I told you the tailor has been standing by since eight am. Here. At KP. Can you take Charlotte to have it altered, as the other moms are doing?"

Kate: "All of the dresses need to be remade."

Harry wrote that Kate came by the next day with flowers and a card to apologise and that all the dresses were fixed before the wedding day.

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