10 January 2023 , 22:22
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The tailor at the centre of a row between Meghan and Kate has spoken out for the first time after Prince Harry's memoir Spare was published.
The row happened in the lead-up to Prince Harry and Meghan's wedding day in 2018, when tears were shed over bridesmaids' dresses.
Ajay Mirpuri, a luxury suit and dressmaker, explained that he and three members of staff had to work at Kensington Palace and Windsor Castle for four days before the wedding in 2018, after discovering that none of the six bridesmaids' dresses made by Givenchy fitted.
While saying that he did not witness any row between Meghan and Kate, the 45-year-old, who has a showroom in London's West End, said it's "nerve-wracking" to find out that a dress does not fit properly.
Prince George and Princess Charlotte at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (PA)
Kate and William with their kids at the wedding (AFP/Getty Images)Mr Mirpuri, who describes himself as a royalist, said he and his staff knew the six bridesmaids' dresses had to be fixed, which is what the team did.
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Eventually, the dresses were fitted but despite that, the tailor said it was a shame that the row between Meghan and Kate overshadowed the fact that the bridesmaids "looked fabulous" on the wedding day.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Mr Mirpuri said: "If anything happened in the background, it didn't happen in front of me."
Harry and Meghan on their wedding day (AFP via Getty Images)He added: "I can understand why anybody would be upset if the dresses weren't fitting – it's nerve-wracking.
"I feel for them all, because you wouldn't want the children to go out on a big stage in an ill-fitting dress – and that's what they were. All six bridesmaids' dresses had to be fixed, and we did it."
According to Prince Harry's account, four days before his wedding Kate sent a message to Meghan saying that Princess Charlotte had been crying at home because the dress was "too big, too long, too baggy".
Meghan then told Kate that a tailor had been waiting at Kensington Palace to make alterations and asked her sister-in-law to take Charlotte there.
Harry's book Spare was published today (Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)In his book, Prince Harry claimed the incident left Meghan "sobbing on the floor".
Harry claims the row was largely driven by Kate, who was angered at having to wait a day to hear back from Meghan about the offending garment.
The Duke goes on to claim Meghan's suggestion of bringing the dress to a tailor on standby at Kensington Palace "wasn't sufficient" and Kate insisted "all the dresses need to be remade".
Princess Charlotte with her mother Catherine at St George's Chapel in May 2018 (Getty Images)Ahead of the big day, Harry said Meghan was juggling issues with Charlotte's dress with the chaos surrounding her father, Thomas Markle - and eventually ended up "sobbing on the floor".
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Spare, which hit the shelves on Tuesday, was boosted into the record books with 400,000 hardback, e-book and audio format copies being snapped up, its publisher said.
Bookshops in the UK opened early on Tuesday to offer Harry's book - but queues were sparse after leaks ahead of the publication, with industry experts predicting Spare would be one of the best-selling pre-order titles of the past decade.
Prince Harry has released private text messages between Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton (Getty Images)It is being sold for £14, not the recommended retail price of £28, in places such as Waterstones and WH Smith as well as online at Amazon.
Just one person was waiting outside Waterstones' flagship branch in Piccadilly, central London, when it opened at 8am.
Caroline Lennon, 59, who had walked two miles from Bethnal Green in the East End to arrive at 6am, said: "People will criticise me and say, 'What an idiot for liking Harry. What an idiot for queuing up', but I don't care what anyone says."