Meghan Markle was supposed to attend Kate Middleton's sister Pippa's wedding with Prince Harry, but there were concerns that her presence would steal attention from the bride.
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Royal experts have claimed that Pippa Middleton was worried that Meghan Markle would ‘overshadow’ her on her wedding day.
Kate Middleton didn't want to upstage sister Pippa
The younger sister of the Duchess of Cambridge married James Matthew on May 20, 2017, at St Mark's Church in Englefield. Her nephew Prince George and niece Princess Charlotte were pageboy and bridesmaid.
To ensure all eyes were on the bride, Kate Middleton chose not to be a bridesmaid or maid of honour.
Author and royal correspondent Judy Wade told People magazine Kate made this choice so she wouldn’t ‘upstage her sister.’ Instead, she was Pippa's matron of honour.
However, the main problem was Meghan Markle, who at the time had just started dating Prince Harry.
Their relationship, which the new couple had managed to keep secret for five months, was now public and royal fans desperately wanted to see them together.
Authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand claim in their book Finding Freedom that Meghan was supposed to attend the entire day, and even purchased her outfit, but a decision was made that she should miss the church ceremony.
Meghan might have overshadowed the wedding
The authors claim that Pippa and her mum Carole were worried that Meghan's presence may ‘overshadow the main event’:
Meghan's church outfit and Philip Treacy hat would have to be worn another time.
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Harry dropped Meghan off at the Airbnb of another wedding guest then drove to the church alone.
Meanwhile, Meghan got ready for the reception and waited for Harry to return so they could have lunch together before driving back to the Middleton's home for the evening event.
But when they arrived, Meghan wasn’t able to spend the evening next to Harry as she had anticipated.
Scobie and Durand wrote:
Sitting together in the custom glass marquee that has been erected on the eighteen-acre property should have been a fun night for the couple, but, per Pippa's request, no couples sat together.
