Meghan Markle recently disclosed that she made an uncommon stop in the UK on her way back from Geneva to Los Angeles on Monday.
The 44-year-old Duchess of Sussex had not officially set foot in Britain since 2022, which coincided with the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. However, she did pass through Heathrow in July 2024 while en route to Nigeria, spending several hours in the renowned Windsor Suite, as reported then.
While in Switzerland, Meghan delivered a speech on the importance of children’s online safety at the World Health Organization’s 79th World Health Assembly on Sunday.
Her UK visit occurred just two days before she and Prince Harry would mark their eighth wedding anniversary. Meghan celebrated the milestone on Instagram by sharing a collection of previously unseen photos from their wedding at Windsor.
She also posted a picture of a handwritten card from the British Airways crew, expressing gratitude with a Union Jack emoji. “Thank you to this wonderful flight crew for all the love yesterday! Your memories and kind words mean so much,” she wrote.
The card read: ‘Dearest Harry and Meghan, Wishing you a wonderful wedding anniversary, With love, The whole British Airways family.’
Meghan’s BA269 flight from London departed 26 minutes later than expected at 3:31pm, and arrived in LA at 7:25pm.
It is not clear how long her stopover at Heathrow was after flying in from Geneva on Monday morning.
There are no direct flights from Geneva to LA, but she could also have chosen to travel via Frankfurt, Paris or Barcelona.
The Duchess of Sussex (pictured), 44, was in Switzerland on Sunday for the World Health Organisation’s 79th World Health Assembly, held at the United Nations’ headquarters in Place des Nations
Her visit came just two days before her eighth wedding anniversary with Prince Harry and to mark the occasion, the flight crew on her journey back to the States on Monday presented her with a sweet card (pictured) and gifts
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex celebrating their wedding anniversary this week
Prince Harry has previously said that it is unsafe to bring his family to the UK unless he is given full-time armed police protection.
The official police protection which is funded by the public purse for all senior royals was taken away from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex when they decided to step down from their royal duties.
As a result, their children Archie, seven, and Lilibet, four, have not seen their grandfather, the King, since February 2022 when they visited Britain as part of the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
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Last year, Harry lost a legal bid to have his protection reconsidered, blaming the Royal Household in thinly veiled comments about him being the victim of ‘a good old-fashioned establishment stitch up’.
Since Harry and Meghan’s departure from the UK in 2020, when the Metropolitan Police stopped providing security for the couple, they have been responsible for their own security which would include round the clock security at their estate in Montecito, California, and security for visits overseas.
Meanwhile, a source close to the duchess told PEOPLE magazine: ‘Meghan’s flight crew was so lovely on her way back from Geneva.
‘They all came to say happy anniversary and shared their memories of where they were on the day. They wrote Harry and Meghan a card and gave them a bottle of champagne and British candies for Harry and the kids.
‘It was very special and so appreciated by Meghan, who wanted to publicly thank them. She was truly so touched.’
Meghan marked her eighth wedding anniversary by sharing a collection of previously unseen photographs from her big day on Instagram.
‘Eight years ago today…’, she captioned the two posts, with one showing a glimpse of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s first dance at their evening reception at Frogmore House, where they shared a passionate kiss in some of the pictures.
The second post revealed snaps from Meghan and Harry’s nuptials at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, which were watched by an estimated 1.9billion people and attended by A-listers such as Oprah Winfrey, Sir David Beckham and George Clooney.
However, it was Sir Elton John, who performed at their special day, and Isabel May, British PR executive and a close, long-time confidante of Meghan’s, who featured in the photographs.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the rift between the Sussexes and the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Royal Family – apart from a glimpse at the back of King Charles after he had walked his daughter-in-law down the aisle – were nowhere to be seen in the wedding photos.
Meghan celebrated her eighth wedding anniversary with Harry on Tuesday and she shared a collection of previously unseen photographs from their big day on Instagram
Marking eight years since the big day, the Duke of Sussex served his wife a recreation of their wedding cake
Meghan showcased a selfie from their engagement party where they dressed in penguin onesies
Instead, the only guest that Harry was pictured hugging was Isabel, whilst Meghan could be seen chatting with her mother, Doria Ragland, who was partly out of the frame.
The carousel of snaps from the ceremony included the newlyweds sharing a sweet moment after their nuptials together, as well as behind-the-scenes photographs of the couple having their official wedding portrait taken.
There were also images of Harry making a toast while the Duchess, dressed in a bespoke gown by Givenchy’s Clare Waight Keller, proudly looked on.
Further celebrating their eighth wedding anniversary, Meghan later shared a sweet video of Harry delivering a cake and gifting her a penguin statue.
In a story on Instagram, the duchess showed her husband singing ‘happy anniversary’ in their kitchen and handing her a lemon elderflower sweet treat – inspired by their wedding cake – with four candles placed on top.
The couple’s children, Archie and Lilibet, could be heard excitedly singing in the background. The Duke, dressed in grey tracksuit bottoms and a blue polo shirt, helped blow out the candles, before Meghan told him, ‘I love you.’
Meghan also revealed that Harry gifted her a statue showing two penguins arm-in-arm to mark their special day. The present is a nod to when they wore penguin costumes at their engagement party.
The former actress could be heard screeching as she unwrapped the unique gift while Harry laughed in the background. ‘Oh my God,’ Meghan said, before reading a card written by the Duke and addressed to ‘the one and only’.
The card read: ‘When momma and poppa got engaged we had a party with all of our friends and we said everyone had to wear an animal onesie and we were penguins.’
Reacting to the note, Meghan gushed: ‘We were penguins because we are together for life.’
She also posted online a picture of the couple kissing in their kitchen while grabbing the cake, before showcasing a selfie from their engagement party where they dressed in the penguin onesies.
Meanwhile, the duchess took a further step towards merchandising her Royal status – by posting on her wedding anniversary to promote an ‘anniversary candle’ for sale for $64 (£48).
A post on her As Ever Instagram page, showed the candle alongside an image of her and Prince Harry being driven away in a carriage after their wedding at St George’s chapel, Windsor.
The caption ran: ‘The feeling of warm sunshine and blue skies, surrounded by love and laughter. Celebrating 8 years of our founder and Prince Harry’s love story.’
The candle, titled ‘Love at first light’ is numbered 519 in a reference to their wedding date of May 19. On the As Ever website it is called the company’s ‘signature scent’.
‘This signature candle is inspired by the ease and joy of a day that holds Meghan’s most cherished memories – her wedding day, May 19th,’ it reads on the website.
‘Bright and refreshing, with quietly grounding notes of Moroccan mint, white tea leaves, and a back note of woodsy cardamom, No. 519 fills the room with a soothing, welcoming fragrance that remains our founder’s tried and true favorite.
Meghan Markle posted an image of her wedding on her As Ever Instagram to celebrate her and Prince Harry’s anniversary
The candle, titled ‘Love at first light’ is numbered 519 in a reference to their wedding date of May 19
‘Housed in a beautiful ceramic vessel, this candle is hand-poured in California.’
Under the terms of the Megxit agreement in 2020, the couple agreed not to use their HRH status and that any commercial work they would undertake would not run counter to the Royal family’s values.
Meghan was criticised in some quarters for selling items worn on their quasi-Royal tour of Australia via the for-profit site One-Off, in particular the striped shirt she wore when visiting survivors of the Bondi beach massacre.
She receives a share of the cut taken by the aggregation shopping site, which also features models like Suki Waterhouse, influencers including Emma Chamberlain and stylist Jamie Mizrahi, who has been previously linked with working for Meghan.
Despite the glamorous and love-filled photos shared by Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding was far from a modern fairytale. The build-up to May 19, 2018, featured a row with Kate over bridesmaids’ dresses and the last-minute drama of the bride’s father not attending.
Another point of contention was Meghan’s request for £130 scent diffusers to mask the ‘musty’ smell of St George’s Chapel, which raised eyebrows among royal household staff.
There were also disagreements over the tiara the duchess wished to wear with her Givenchy wedding dress, and the bride-to-be’s ‘direct approach’ with staff was called into question by the late Queen, who reportedly warned the bride: ‘In this family we don’t speak to people like that.’
The Duchess’s father, Thomas Markle, suffered a heart attack weeks before the ceremony and was forced to pull out of walking his daughter down the aisle after it emerged he had staged paparazzi photos of himself.
Communication between the pair broke down, and when it became apparent that Mr Markle would not be attending the wedding, the former actress asked King Charles to walk her down the aisle, recalling on her Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan: ‘Harry’s dad is very charming.
‘And I said to him, like, “I’ve lost my dad in this.” So him, as my father-in-law, was really important to me. So I asked him to walk me down the aisle and he said yes.’
But Meghan’s fallout with her father wasn’t the only disagreement surrounding her special day; one of the most notorious clashes took place between the duchess and the Princess of Wales over Princess Charlotte’s bridesmaid dress.
Initial reports suggested that Meghan had made Kate cry during a disagreement over the outfits, which the Suits actress later denied.
The princess allegedly believed that the bridesmaids should wear tights, as per royal protocol, and thought the length of her daughter Charlotte’s hem was too short for the then three-year-old, according to royal author Tom Bower.
He claimed in his biography Revenge, which documented Harry and Meghan’s fall-out with the Royal Family, that the duchess’s then assistant Melissa Toubati and dressmaker Clare Waight Keller said they ‘witnessed Meghan emphatically reject Kate’s observation’.
The altercation caused Kate to burst into tears, according to Kirstie Allsopp, a presenter and friend of Queen Camilla.
However, Meghan gave a different version of events in her bombshell interview with Winfrey in March 2021. She insisted that she was the one who had become emotional in the exchange, not Prince William’s wife.
Meghan explained that Kate was upset about something but later took responsibility, apologised and even brought her flowers.
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Further celebrating their eighth wedding anniversary, Meghan later shared a sweet video of Harry delivering a cake and gifting her a penguin statue
‘It wasn’t a confrontation,’ Meghan said. ‘I don’t think it’s fair to her to get into the details of that, because she apologised. What was hard to get over was being blamed for something that not only I didn’t do but that happened to me.
‘And the people who were part of our wedding were going to our comms team and saying, “I know this didn’t happen. I don’t have to tell them what actually happened”.’
At the time, royal expert Katie Nicholl claimed that Kate found it ‘mortifying’ that their disagreement had reached the press, as she never wanted it to become public knowledge.
While Meghan’s interview sought to put the rumours to rest, Harry reignited the discussion in his memoir, Spare, providing new details about the dispute.
According to the duke, Kate messaged Meghan in the days leading up to the wedding, expressing concerns about the bridesmaid dresses – specifically Charlotte’s.
The duchess suggested that the princess take Charlotte to a tailor at the palace for adjustments but later, when the two women spoke in person, Kate reportedly insisted that the dress was too big and it had made the young royal cry when she tried it on.
Meghan, already overwhelmed by wedding preparations, was said to be distressed by the conversation. Harry wrote that when he returned home, he found his fiancée sobbing on the kitchen floor, overcome with stress.
However, he also noted that Kate later came to their house with a card and flowers as an apology.
Though the incident continues to be disputed, it remains one of the most talked-about moments from the lead-up to the Sussexes’ wedding – and a lingering factor in the family’s rift.
Another memorable altercation that happened before Meghan’s big day involved the tiara she wished to wear with her £100,000 wedding dress from French fashion house Givenchy.
It is customary for royal brides to pick out a dazzling tiara from the palace’s extensive collection to wear as they walk down the aisle, with the monarch having the final say on the choice of headwear.
However, this seemingly minor task blew up into a disagreement between the duchess and Angela Kelly, the late Queen Elizabeth’s personal adviser and loyal, long-time dresser.
‘Meghan alighted on a tiara sparkling with emeralds. Her choice was approved by Harry. Kelly suggested that its Russian origin made it unsuitable,’ according to Mr Bower.
Harry and Meghan’s wedding baker has also thanked the couple for ‘trusting’ her team to make the stunning lemon elderflower cake for their 2018 Windsor Castle reception
The duke reportedly became angry with Kelly for going against Meghan’s request, leading to Harry receiving a dressing-down from his grandmother.
During the meeting, Harry was put ‘firmly in his place’ and warned by the late Queen that ‘Meghan cannot have whatever she wants. She gets what tiara she’s given by me,’ The Times reported.
Meghan eventually opted to wear Queen Mary’s Diamond Bandeau, but this was not the end of the tiara-related drama.
During wedding rehearsals, the duchess asked that the tiara be taken out of storage so her hairdresser, who had flown from New York, could work around the £2million headwear.
The request was refused on the grounds that permission was needed from Queen Elizabeth herself. Unimpressed, Harry reportedly told Kelly: ‘What Meghan wants, Meghan gets.’
However, he denied in his memoirs that he angrily said that phrase to Kelly. He did admit he had been exasperated by the dresser, who ‘fixed me with a look that made me shiver’. He added: ‘I could read in her face a clear warning. This isn’t over.’
After finding herself at loggerheads with the late Queen’s dresser and then Kate, Meghan also reportedly had a tense exchange with a member of catering staff.
In her book The New Royals, author Katie Nicholl wrote: ‘On one occasion in the run-up to the wedding, Meghan went to Windsor Castle for a menu-tasting and ended up having a tense exchange with a member of staff, according to one source.
‘”Meghan was at the castle to taste some of the dishes, and told one of the caterers she could taste egg,” said the source. “She got quite upset, saying that the dish was meant to be vegan and macrobiotic.”‘
The bride-to-be’s ‘direct approach’ with the staff member allegedly came to the attention of Queen Elizabeth, who reportedly had some stern words of advice for the duchess.
‘Suddenly the Queen walked in and said: “Meghan, in this family we don’t speak to people like that.”‘
Dishes served at Harry and Meghan’s wedding included an array of canapés, including Scottish langoustines wrapped in smoked salmon with citrus crème fraiche and croquette of confit Windsor lamb, roasted vegetables and shallot jam.
Elsewhere, following the nuptials, royal sources claimed that the odour of St George’s Chapel did not find favour with Meghan, so she insisted on masking the ‘musty’ smell with £130 scent diffusers before her guests arrived.
However, according to royal biographers Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand in their book Finding Freedom, the Diptyque Baies diffusers were provided by the brand and were approved by the palace ahead of the big day.
The signature scent used to make the chapel more fragrant smelled of roses, infused with fruity undertones of berries and currant leaves.
It was previously understood that the request to use the atomisers to create a pleasant aroma for guests specifically came from Meghan’s office at Kensington Palace.
It was thought that, although she and Harry organised the wedding themselves with an in-house team, anything to do with the chapel was a matter for the late Queen, who had to give them permission to use it.
That meant all of the arrangements needed to be passed by the Lord Chamberlain’s Office at Buckingham Palace, which is in charge of ceremonial matters.
The source said at the time: ‘Apparently, Meghan didn’t like the smell of the chapel, which, as you would expect, is a little musty. It’s not unpleasant at all, though.
‘It just smells how you would expect an old building to smell. And that’s something the Royal Family are particularly used to.
‘Meghan wanted staff to go around with these atomisers, like spritzer guns, and spray the chapel with scent before anyone arrived.
‘Royal Household staff stepped in and told her office politely, but firmly, that this was the Queen’s Chapel and it simply wasn’t appropriate.
‘I don’t believe they said no because they thought it could affect the chapel in any way. It was simply the principle of the thing.
‘This is a place that has held royal weddings, funerals and even contains the Royal Vault. I don’t believe a request of that nature had been made before.’
The source stressed at the time that there had been ‘no falling out’ between the two households, but that there was a certain amount of surprise at the request. ‘Frankly, it was all a bit ridiculous and rather over the top,’ they added.
Elsewhere, the fashion designer who made the Duchess’ wedding dress has praised the ceremony as ‘unlike anything’ she has experienced as she reminisced about the royal wedding eight years later.
Taking to Instagram, Clare Waight Keller, who now works as the Global Creative Director at Uniqlo, said of the nuptials: ‘It felt unlike anything I had ever experienced before.
‘So intimate, so moving and so deeply human despite the scale and history surrounding it.
‘It was extraordinary to be part of, truly a privilege… to witness both the private moments before with Meghan that morning and then to see it all unfold inside the chapel.
‘Some memories soften over time, but this day never will. I know it will stay with me forever. Happy Anniversary Harry and Meghan.’
Clare has remained close to the couple and has even described her friendship with the duchess as a ‘personal girlfriend relationship’ – something that developed in the design process.
The designer also appeared in Harry and Meghan’s explosive Netflix series, broadcast in December 2022, where she discussed the 3,900 hours spent making the dress.
And shortly after the wedding, the duchess presented Clare with the prestigious British Womenswear Designer of the Year at the Fashion Awards.
Meanwhile, Harry and Meghan’s wedding baker has also thanked the couple for ‘trusting’ her team to make the stunning lemon elderflower cake for their 2018 Windsor Castle reception.
Taking to social media, Claire Ptak of East London’s ‘Violet Cakes’ posted a message of support, writing: ‘It’s not every day you get asked to “do what you do” and design a cake for a prince and princess with the entire world watching.
‘It was discussed that we might use gilt to place the cakes on and I felt it was more personal so designed the cakes to fit the gilt platters used by generations.
‘They were displayed in front of Elton John and his piano then lanced with Harry’s sword. We had been invited into Buckingham Palace to bake the cakes safely away from paparazzi gathering outside our small bakery in East London.
‘Thank you Meghan and Harry for trusting me and my team to make your wedding cake 8 years ago today!’
Behind the scenes photos showed Claire and her team hard at work as they frosted and decorated the stunning bakes – which took five of them six days to complete.
She added: ‘I had hoped they would choose the Lemon and Elderflower cake tester that I created just for them. Elderflower is blooming all over England in May and with Amalfi lemons it would be fresh and bright and perfect for a wedding of that magnitude.
‘Luckily that was their favourite of the 6 testers too. And little did I know my icing style would become ubiquitous – that side swoop which has become the gold standard and base to so many beautiful cake designs I see across the world. Proud doesn’t begin to describe the feeling.’
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