EXCLUSIVE: Meghan Markle's Wedding Secrets Unveiled on Her 8th Anniversary With Harry — Including the Reason She 'Sobbed on Floor in Bathroom' Ahead of Her Big Day
Meghan Markle’s emotional wedding day has resurfaced on her anniversary.
May 19 2026, Published 7:40 p.m. ET
Meghan Markle's glamorous royal wedding to Prince Harry may have captivated nearly two billion viewers worldwide, but insiders now told RadarOnline.com the days leading up to the ceremony were marked by emotional turmoil severe enough to leave the future duchess "sobbing on the bathroom floor" as tensions exploded behind palace walls.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex celebrated their eighth wedding anniversary this week, reviving public fascination with the lavish 2018 ceremony at St George's Chapel in Windsor.
Fairy Tale Wedding Overshadowed by Royal Family Pressure
Prince Harry and Markle celebrated their eighth anniversary on May 19.
Markle, now 44, and Harry, 41, appeared to embody a modern royal fairytale when they married before a star-studded congregation including Oprah Winfrey and George Clooney.
Yet according to Harry's memoir Spare, the final days before the wedding were overshadowed by a bitter disagreement between Markle and Catherine, Princess of Wales, over bridesmaids' dresses for Princess Charlotte, who was three at the time.
One royal source claimed the pressure surrounding the wedding also became emotionally overwhelming for Meghan.
The insider said, "There's a tendency for people to only remember the spectacle and glamour of the wedding itself, but Meghan was dealing with an extraordinary level of pressure behind closed doors.
"She was preparing to marry into one of the most intensely scrutinized families on the planet while every detail of her appearance, behavior, and relationships was being dissected globally. People close to the situation say there were moments where the emotional strain of trying to navigate royal expectations, family tensions, and relentless media attention became incredibly overwhelming for her."
Meghan Markle 'Sobs' Over Tense Exchange
Princess Charlotte cried after trying on her bridesmaid dress for Markle's wedding.
The source added: "What started as a disagreement over bridesmaids' dresses quickly became much bigger because emotions were already stretched to breaking point on all sides. Meghan felt totally isolated and hurt by how the situation unfolded, particularly because she was already under enormous stress in the final days before the ceremony.
"The clash over the dresses ended up representing deeper issues that were quietly developing within the family dynamic long before the public became aware of the fractures between Harry and the rest of the royals."
In his memoir Spare, Harry alleged Catherine contacted Markle four days before the ceremony to complain Charlotte's bridesmaid dress was "too big, too long and too baggy."
According to Harry, the princess said the young princess had cried after trying the dress on and believed the outfit needed to be remade rather than altered.
Harry later wrote he returned home to discover Markle "sobbing" on the bathroom floor following the exchange.
Meghan Markle Claims Princess Catherine 'Apologized'
Princes Catherine is believed to have apologized to Markle and sent flowers after the dispute.
The dispute became one of the defining controversies surrounding the Sussexes' wedding after early reports claimed Markle had reduced Catherine to tears.
Markle later disputed the account during her explosive 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, insisting the "reverse happened."
The Duchess said the princess had upset her during the disagreement, but later apologized and sent flowers.
But Markle also told Oprah: "It wasn't a confrontation. I don't think it's fair to her to get into the details of that, because she apologized."
Royal author Tom Quinn later attempted to cool the long-running controversy in his book Yes, Ma'am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants.
He wrote: "The truth is that during the discussions about the bridesmaid's dress, Meghan said a few things she regretted and Kate said a few things she later regretted, but it was all in the heat of the moment."
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Tailor Ajay Mirpuri altered the bridesmaids' dresses before the event.
Meanwhile, tailor Ajay Mirpuri, who worked on the bridesmaids' dresses, denied witnessing any explosive confrontation firsthand.
He said, "If anything happened in the background, it didn't happen in front of me."
Mirpuri added, "They were faced with a problem, as anyone gets at a wedding, with last-minute hitches. I can understand why anybody would be upset if the dresses weren't fitting – it's nerve-wracking."
The tensions surrounding the wedding have remained a lingering source of fascination amid the Sussexes' ongoing estrangement from the Royal Family since stepping back from royal duties in 2020 and relocating to Montecito to raise their two kids, Archie, seven, and Lilibet, four.
