Meghan Markle’s anniversary post sparks backlash: ‘8 years filled with the worst decisions’

Meghan Markle found herself at the centre of online discussion after sharing a series of never-before-seen pictures from her wedding to Prince Harry to mark their eighth anniversary together. The former actress and the Duke of Sussex tied the knot at St. George’s Chapel in the United Kingdom on May 19, 2018, with guests including Serena Williams, Gayle King, David Beckham, George Clooney and Oprah Winfrey in attendance.The post featured a range of intimate moments from the day, including Meghan wrapping her arms around Harry on the dance floor, Harry leaning in to kiss his bride after a toast, and a mother-daughter moment between Meghan and Doria Ragland. Also featured were images of Elton John performing and Harry hugging Isabel May, a PR executive and close friend of Meghan’s. Notably absent from the post was any mention or image of the groom’s family.

Meghan Markle’s anniversary post reignited old wedding drama

The post quickly sparked debate online, receiving hundreds of reactions from social media users. According to Bored Panda, many took issue with the way the post portrayed the wedding as a purely joyful occasion, pointing to accounts from Meghan’s own 2021 interview and Harry’s 2023 memoir ‘Spare’ that painted a far more complicated picture of the lead-up to the day.“8 years filled with the worst decisions a public figure could make,” one social media user wrote. Another added, “Haha, Elton John, but not any royals. Scared of being told to remove them or reminding them they haven’t paid the ransom yet?” A third wrote, “She is absolutely reeling with fury that her relevance has finally faded entirely.” Meghan has since turned off the comments section on the post, meaning no further public responses can be seen below it.

The bridesmaid dress scandal involving Kate Middleton resurfaced

Among the tensions that resurfaced following the post was the now-infamous bridesmaid dress disagreement between Meghan and Kate Middleton in the days before the wedding. The dispute reportedly centred on the tailoring of the bridesmaid dresses, particularly that of Kate’s daughter, Princess Charlotte.During her 2021 interview, Meghan confirmed there had been a tense situation but insisted it “wasn’t a confrontation.” She claimed Kate had said something she later regretted and subsequently apologised, bringing flowers. “What was hard to get over was being blamed for something that not only I didn’t do but that happened to me,” Meghan said at the time. She denied making Kate cry, insisting instead that the Princess of Wales had “hurt her feelings.“In ‘Spare’, Harry wrote that Kate had texted Meghan four days before the wedding saying Charlotte’s dress was “too big, too long, too baggy” and that she had cried trying it on. When Meghan suggested having the dress adjusted by the palace tailor, Kate allegedly insisted all bridesmaid dresses had to be entirely remade. Harry returned home to find Meghan “sobbing on the kitchen floor.”

The tiara dispute also came back into focus

Also revisited was the disagreement over the tiara Meghan wished to wear with her Givenchy wedding gown. According to ‘Spare’, Queen Elizabeth had given her approval for Meghan to borrow the Queen Mary Diamond Bandeau, but the situation escalated when the Queen’s assistant, Angela Kelly, informed the couple that Meghan would not be permitted to take the tiara for a try-on session with her hairdresser.Harry wrote that close to the wedding day, Kelly “inexplicably” told the couple the arrangement could no longer go ahead. “I considered going to Granny, but that would probably mean sparking an all-out confrontation, and I wasn’t quite sure with whom Granny would side,” he wrote in the memoir.Eight years on from their wedding day, the anniversary post appears to have stirred up as many questions as fond memories, with the behind-the-scenes tensions of that period showing little sign of fading from public memory.