Meghan's 'peace offering' to Kate after bridesmaid dress spat

There's been yet another installment in the royal bridesmaids dress drama involving sisters-in-law Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton.

Ahead of Meghan's 2018 wedding, the pair were involved in an argument over the dresses for the flower girls (Kate's daughter Charlotte being one of them) which reportedly left Kate in tears and painted Meghan as a bit of a bridezilla.

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend day twelve of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 14, 2018 in London, England.
Sisters-in-law Meghan and Kate (pictured at Wimbledon in 2018) were involved in an argument over flower girl dresses ahead of Meghan's wedding. Photo: Getty Images.

'Elegant peace offering'

The rumour persisted unchallenged until the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, when Meghan revealed it was she — not Kate — who ended up crying.

Meghan claimed that Kate later apologised for upsetting her, sending her flowers. And that's where the story appeared to have ended — until now.

According to royal biographer Andrew Morton, Meghan followed up by extending an 'elegant peace offering' in the form of a gold bracelet to the Duchess of Cambridge.

Writing in an updated version of his book, Meghan: A Hollywood Princess, Morton states:

"The spat concerning the bridesmaids' outfits now behind them, Meghan had since given Kate and her six closest friends gold bracelets designed by Californian jeweller Lisette Polny as a thank-you for their help and support.

"It was an elegant peace offering, both women professional enough to know that there was no gain in showing dissent or disdain."

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Meghan Markle speaks to Oprah Winfrey during an interview for CBS
A royal expert has leaked a telling email in which Meghan implores the palace to clear up rumours that she made Kate Middleton cry. Photo: CBS.

Set the record straight

The untrue version of events surrounding the flower girl dresses clearly troubled Meghan, who reportedly implored royal aides to 'set the record straight' on the rumours.

In a March op-ed for Harper's Bazaar, resident royal reporter Omid Scobie says that Meghan wrote to the palace in January 2020 following a push to have Harry cosign a statement quashing a separate rumour involving Prince William.

According to Scobie, who authored the best-selling book on Meghan and Harry, Finding Freedom, royals aides had asked Harry, 37, to publically refute newspaper reports that his brother "constantly bullied" the Sussexes before they stepped down from senior royal duties.

According to Scobie's source, Meghan wrote in reply: "Well, if we're just throwing any statement out there now, then perhaps KP can finally set the record straight about me [not making Kate cry.]"

Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton
Meghan Markle has revealed a headline about herself and Kate Middleton was actually wrong and that Kate had made her cry before her wedding, not the reverse. Photo: Getty

Her plea, however, fell on deaf ears according to Scobie, who claims that Meghan was told that the Duchess of Cambridge "should never be dragged into idle gossip."

In contrast, on January 13, Princes Harry and William released a joint statement condemning the "offensive" and "false" bullying claims.

Meghan: 'Kate made me cry'

When she sat down with Oprah, former Suits star Meghan set the record straight on past rumours that she had brought Kate to tears in the lead up to her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry.

Meghan told Oprah that it was "the reverse" that had happened, with Kate making her cry over a flower girl dress.

"A few days before the wedding [Kate] was upset about something. Pertaining to... the issue was correct about flower girl dresses. And it made me cry," she said.

Meghan said that she forgave Kate after she 'owned it and apologised' with a gift of flowers and a note. She decided to 'protect' Kate by keeping the truth to herself and was 'shocked' when the 'Meghan made Kate cry' story began circulating six months after her wedding.

Kate Middleton and Princess Charlotte at Meghan and Harry's wedding
Meghan revealed Kate said something to her about the flower girl dresses that made her cry, but she later apologised and Meghan forgave her. Photo: Getty

"What was hard to get over was being blamed for something that not only I didn’t do, but that happened to me. And, and the people who were part of our wedding going to our comms team and saying, 'I know this didn’t happen.' I don’t have to tell them what actually happened," the duchess explained.

Oprah questioned why, if those in the royal family knew the truth, no one including Kate made efforts to correct the story that was being plastered across front pages around the world.

Meghan asserted that her sister-in-law was a 'good person' and speculated as to why she didn't come forward and put things right.

"[...] Look I would hope that [Kate] would have wanted that corrected and maybe in the same way that the palace wouldn’t let anybody else negate it, they wouldn’t let her because she’s a good person," she said.

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