How Meghan Markle’s Wedding Dress Had Secret Nod to Her First Date With Prince Harry

Meghan Markle’s wedding gown had a special nod to her first date with Prince Harry. Clare Waight Keller, the fashion designer responsible for the Duchess of Sussex’s long-sleeved Givenchy wedding gown, opened up in a new interview with Vanity Fair about adding sentimental touches to the May 2018 ceremony attire.  

The first female artistic director of Givenchy revealed that for Markle’s “something blue,” she secretly stitched blue fabric into the hem of Markle’s wedding gown from the dress the future royal wore on her first date with her future husband. “We basically sewed it into the hem of the wedding dress, so she was the only one that knew that it was there. It was a little blue gingham check,” Waight Keller said of the classic wedding tradition. “It was the perfect personal memento that was secretly hidden inside the dress.”

Markle had previously hinted at the first date dress’ special role in her wedding date in HBO’s 2018 documentary Queen of the World, but didn’t confirm what it was. “Somewhere in here there’s a piece of blue fabric that’s stitched inside – it was my something blue,” she said in the documentary. “It’s fabric from the dress that I wore on our first date.”

Another special touch Waight Keller added to Markle’s wedding attire was a hand-embroidered flower trim representing each of the 53 countries of the Commonwealth to the bride’s cathedral-length veil. “[Meghan] felt like she was bringing an element of each of those countries down the aisle with her. So that her new role – and that bridge to the new role – was captured in what she was wearing,” she said. “For both of us, we felt it was a really beautiful signature, and I think even Prince Harry was just thrilled at the idea that we really tried to capture something for everyone in that service.”

King Charles III, who walked Markle down the aisle after her own father was unable to attend the wedding, was especially touched. “King Charles was just in awe of the dress and the [veil] embroidery, and he asked me about it while we were waiting inside the nave,” Waight Keller said. “He was really very interested, actually, in all the different motifs and the floral representations.”

Markle also expressed her gratitude to Waight Keller at the British Fashion Awards just months after her wedding, presenting the designer with the British Womenswear Designer of the Year award. “I got to know Meghan on such a personal level,” Waight Keller said at the time. “To have someone like that trust you in an incredible moment in their life is something that is just the most unbelievable honor. I can’t thank you enough because it was the most beautiful moment.”