30 October 2023 , 07:00
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One of the toughest parts of planning a wedding can be deciding on a guest list - as the Princess of Wales' sister Pippa discovered when she wed.
It was more than six years ago that she tied the knot with husband James Matthews in a stunning ceremony, which saw Prince George as a pageboy and Princess Charlotte as a bridesmaid. Naturally, Kate would be at her sister's wedding alongside her husband Prince William and their kids, although Prince Louis had not been born at that point. But when it came to inviting Prince Harry and his then new-girlfriend Meghan Markle, it posed a potential problem for Pippa and mum Carole.
Meghan Markle with Kate and her sister Pippa at Wimbledon in 2019 (PA)Their relationship, which they'd successfully managed to keep a secret for five months, was now in the headlines and royal fans were desperate to see the new couple together. In the book Finding Freedom, authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand claim that Meghan had planned to attend the ceremony. She had even bought a new outfit and a hat - but the decision was made that she should not attend the nuptials.
The authors claim that Pippa and her mum Carole were concerned that Meghan's presence may "overshadow the main event". They also added that a headline ran on the morning of the wedding, which compared Pippa and Meghan's bottoms, which was the final straw.
Pippa with her husband James Matthews on their wedding day (Getty Images)The book says: "Harry and Meghan agreed that she couldn't possibly turn up at the church, only fifty metres away from a specially arranged media pen, after such a crass cover story. If they worried their arrival might create a media circus despite taking every precaution, now they had no doubt that it would. Meghan's church outfit and Philip Treacy hat would have to be worn another time."
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Instead, Harry dropped Meghan off at another wedding guest's Airbnb and then drove to the church alone. During this time, Meghan got ready for the reception and waited for Harry to return so they could have lunch together before they drove back to the Middleton's house for the evening celebrations. But when they got there, Meghan didn't get to spend the evening with Harry by her side as she imagined.
Scobie and Durand write: "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." Just under a year later, Pippa and husband James, along with Carole, Michael and James Middleton all attended Meghan and Harry's big day at Windsor Castle. Now Pippa and James have three children, a five-year-old son called Arthur, a two-year-old daughter called Grace and a baby daughter named Rose.