We Looked Back At Prince Harry & Meghan Markle's Wedding And It's Totally Different Now

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle met back in the summer of 2016 after being set up by a mutual friend. After their first date, the two knew that they had found something special. They kept their new romance private for about a year, eventually going public with their relationship a few months later. One year later, Harry got down on one knee in the North Garden of their cottage at Kensington Palace. "It was a really nice moment, it was just the two of us and I think I managed to catch her by surprise as well," Harry said in the couple's first post-engagement interview with BBC News.

The next six months were a whirlwind as the couple planned their wedding, which took place at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. With about 600 guests in tow (and another 1,200+ spectators outside), Harry and Meghan exchanged vows. Their royal wedding, held on May 19, 2018, was watched by nearly 2 billion people worldwide. The media reported on nearly every detail from the Forget-Me-Nots in Meghan's bouquet to Harry's platinum wedding band. Royal watchers around the globe seemed overjoyed for the couple, despite their controversial union, mainly because Meghan was an American divorcee of mixed race. 

Nevertheless, the couple's royal wedding seemed to go off without a hitch. Flash forward seven years, and things are totally different now. From a broken family bond to secrets about their big day exposed, we're taking a look at how much has changed since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex tied the knot.

At the time of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding, almost everyone was excited to see the formation of a fantastic foursome with the newlyweds joining Prince William and Kate Middleton as the next generation of the royal family. Though there had been some rumors about how the royals really felt about Meghan entering the fold as an outsider, many people thought that she'd formed a strong bond with her new sister-in-law and that the two women would be a force to be reckoned with. But that's not exactly what happened. Despite some appearances together — and a few smiles exchanged — the world would later learn that there was indeed tension between the two women.

There were reports that Meghan made Kate cry over a dispute about the bridesmaids' dresses — Kate's daughter, Princess Charlotte, was amongst the bridesmaids. However, in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, Meghan said that it was actually Kate who made her cry. "She was upset about something, but she owned it, and she apologized ... And she did what I would do if I knew that I hurt someone, right, to just take accountability for it," Meghan told Winfrey. At the time of the royal wedding, no one would have had any suspicion that something like this went on behind the scenes. And, since the royal family is notoriously tight-lipped about drama, Kate never offered a response to her sister-in-law's claims. 

When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle got engaged, King Charles (then the Prince of Wales) was said to be "delighted" — at least, that's what the official announcement from Clarence House stated. As wedding planning got underway, things in Meghan's personal life took a turn. Her father, Thomas Markle, had not only fallen ill, but he also betrayed his daughter's trust — she found out that he had staged paparazzi photos against her wishes. This caused Meghan to cut her dad out of her life. So, who would walk her down the aisle?

"Harry's dad is very charming and I said to him, 'I've lost my dad in this.' So him as my father-in-law is very important to me. So I asked him to walk me down the aisle and he said 'yes,'" Meghan shared in the Netflix documentary, "Harry & Meghan" (per Cosmopolitan), which was released in December 2022. It was a special moment and unprecedented, as it broke tradition. But this was a family, and that's what family does, right? 

Looking back, it's hard to believe that Charles was so close to his son and soon-to-be daughter-in-law. Within 18 months of that special moment, a family feud was underway. Ultimately, Harry and Meghan made the decision to step down as senior members of the royal family and left the UK to build a new life. And, to this very day, things between Harry, Meghan, and King Charles have not been resolved. 

On Meghan Markle's wedding day, she wanted nothing more than to be surrounded by loved ones. One of those people was her best friend Jessica Mulroney. Although the royal wedding tradition does not include a maid of honor, Meghan's bestie served as her honorary maid of honor and had a special seat inside the chapel. 

"[Mulroney's] children were officially [Meghan's] bridesmaids, but [Meghan] made sure that Jessica was sitting in that first seat closest to where Harry and Meghan were standing," Meghan's jeweler Eva Hartling told People magazine in 2018. And that's not all. Hartling pointed out that Mulroney "was dressed in blue and wearing blue sapphire earrings, so it was almost that she acted as [Meghan's] 'something blue.'" 

Meghan and Mulroney had been pals since 2011, but within two years of Meghan and Prince Harry's wedding, rumors started about a falling out. According to Us Weekly, Mulroney was involved in a racially charged social media scandal involving content creator Sasha Exeter. Mulroney issued a public apology to Exeter, later bringing Meghan into the fold. "I have lived a very public and personal experience with my closest friend where race was front and centre," Mulroney said to Exeter in an Instagram comment. Within weeks, reports surfaced suggesting that Meghan had ended her friendship with Mulroney. Neither Meghan nor Mulroney has commented publicly, nor have they been seen together since.

While Prince Harry kept his wedding attire under wraps until his special day, no one was surprised when he walked into St. George's Chapel in the uniform of the Blues and Royals — his regiment in the army. "The ties and the connections that he has with that regiment and the people that he served with, particularly in Afghanistan, it's very much a strong family atmosphere within the regiment," William Skinner of Savile Row tailor Dege & Skinner told GQ. Harry's time served in the army was incredibly special and meaningful to him, as detailed in his memoir, "Spare." 

The Duke of Sussex was honored to receive military titles — both the ones he earned and the ones bestowed upon him by his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. However, those titles, which included commodore-in-chief of small ships and diving, honorary air commandant of RAF Honington, and captain general of the Royal Marines, according to Page Six, were stripped by Harry's father in 2021 — after his decision to step down as a senior member of the royal family.

"Once you leave the military from a uniform standpoint, you never leave the community, and to have the games every other year, but then also to be able to do a one year to go event as well, is literally my annual fix," Harry told ABC News. "To be amongst this community and have a laugh, have fun, no matter which nation they're from, the banter is the same."

For the naysayers who believe that it was Meghan Markle's plan all along to take Prince Harry away from his royal roots, the "Suits" actress made efforts to uphold wedding tradition. For example, Markle had her veil embroidered with the national flowers of each of the 53 Commonwealth countries, a nod to her husband's roots. "It was important for me, especially now being part of the royal family, to have all 53 of the Commonwealth countries incorporated. And I knew it would be a fun surprise for my now husband – he didn't know! He was really over the moon to find that I would make this choice for our day together, and I think the other members of the family had a similar reaction," Markle said during the 2018 HBO documentary, "Queen of the World."

Despite Markle's apparent desire to make a real go of it, things started falling apart rather quickly, especially once she got pregnant. The Duchess of Sussex fell into a deep depression and even contemplated self-harm, which she openly discussed during her 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey. Prince Harry felt that it was best to take his wife and son away from stress or sadness, which really prompted the couple's move out of the UK. It was unprecedented and something people didn't see coming — even if they despised Markle.

If you ask Prince Harry what his grandmother thought of Meghan Markle, he would likely tell you that the two got along swimmingly and that he received his grandmother's blessing to marry the woman that he loved. Though photos of Queen Elizabeth II at the royal wedding didn't seem too cheerful, one could argue that her unwavering expressions were simply part of the role she played as the matriarch of the royal family.

Now, several years after Harry's wedding, there's been a bit of a bombshell report of someone very close to the prince who may not have been too thrilled with the union. That person? Is Prince Philip — Harry's grandfather. In an upcoming book titled "The Royal Butler: My Remarkable Life in Royal Service," author Grant Harrold made a relatively bold claim about Philip, who died in April 2021. Harrold wrote that Philip couldn't wait for the ceremony to be over, saying to his wife, "thank f*** that's over." The comment suggests that Philip wasn't a big fan of Meghan's and that he wasn't in support of his grandson's choice in romantic partner, let alone wife.

Although neither the queen nor her husband ever spoke ill of Markle publicly, there have been rumors that they didn't care much for the former actress. If what Harrold wrote in his book is legitimate, it seems as though those rumors may hold some truth. 

The day of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding, everyone presumed that it was the only ceremony the couple had to exchange vows — because why would there be another one? However, we now know that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had a mini-ceremony in their backyard days before the royal wedding. The admission came during the couple's interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021. "You know, three days before our wedding, we got married. No one knows that," Markle told Winfrey — and the rest of the watching world. "We called the archbishop and just said, look, this thing, this spectacle is for the world, but we want our union between us, so the vows that we have framed in our room are just the two of us in our backyard with the archbishop of Canterbury," she explained.

Her comments received attention, with many people surprised that the two went against tradition in such a major way, and the Sussexes ended up clarifying days later. A spokesperson told Today that the pair "privately exchanged personal vows a few days before their official/legal wedding on May 19," suggesting that there was nothing official or legally binding to what happened before their vow exchange at St. George's Chapel. It seems logical they would want to do something special, unique, and private, given how they've chosen to live their lives post-wedding. Looking back, we're actually not all that surprised.

As people tuned in to the royal wedding coverage in 2018, they watched droves of celebrities pile into St. George's Chapel. Among the rich and famous guests were George and Amal Clooney, David and Victoria Beckham, Idris Elba, Elton John, and Oprah Winfrey. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had plenty of strong relationships with the Hollywood elite, so no one was super surprised by the guest list. What we didn't realize was that one of those big-name wedding guests would end up going viral thanks to a candid interview with the Sussexes that would take place three years later.

Winfrey landed the opportunity of a lifetime when she was asked to interview the Duke and Duchess of Sussex following their move to Montecito, California. At the time, Markle was pregnant with the couple's second child. The couple joined the former talk show host in the backyard of a mutual friend, not too far from their respective homes (Winfrey also owns a home in the neighborhood). The interview was viewed by more than 17 million people in the United States alone, many of whom were curious about the couple's decision to step away from the royal family and start a new life together in the States. We'd be willing to bet that not even Winfrey herself could have predicted what happened in the years following the couple's big day.

As it turns out, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle would have chosen to forgo the wedding spectacle if it were up to them. The couple hoped to get married quickly so that they could start their lives together, but things didn't go as planned. In his memoir "Spare," Harry wrote, "the Palace couldn't seem to pick a date. Or a venue," according to Us Weekly. "While waiting for a decree from on high, from the nebulous upper regions of the royal decision-making apparatus, we went off on a traditional 'engagement tour.'" Harry went on to say that he ran some wedding venue ideas by his older brother, Prince William, but just about everything was shot down for one reason or another.

Harry told his brother that he and Markle wanted something small. "We wanted to explore. Barefoot in Botswana, with maybe a friend officiating, that was our dream," he explained, adding, "but we were expected to share this moment with other people. It wasn't up to us." And, sure, everything seems to have worked out, but that's not really at all what the couple had in mind for their wedding day. And none of us had any clue.