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The Duchess of Sussex married Prince Harry in May wearing a custom Givenchy and made sure to include a nod to her new grandmother-in-law.
Embodied in the 16-foot veil was a reference to the nations of the Commonwealth – something the Queen had done with her dress during her crowning ceremony in 1953.
The two garments are compared in the new ITV documentary, Queen of the World, which aired tonight.
Meghan revealed she kept her plans to incorporate a floral tribute to the 53 nations which make up the Commonwealth a secret from her husband-to-be.
And the veil came as an extra special surprise for the Queen.
The documentary points out: “Few will have been more touched to see it than the queen herself, for this was a poignant echo of the gown she wore on her coronation day.”
Elizabeth II was coronated at an elaborate ceremony which was more than a year in the making.
She commissioned her favourite designer, Norman Hartnell, to design her gown and his initial sketches featured floral patterns of the home nations.
But the documentary reveals “the Queen had another idea” and asked the flowers from the Commonwealth, which then comprised of just eight nations, woven into the fabric.
Meghan said she had drawn inspiration for her wedding veil from the Queen’s coronation gown.
She said: “It was important for me, especially now being a part of the royal family, to have all 53 of the Commonwealth countries incorporated.”
And she revealed she had kept the design a secret – even from her husband-to-be.
She said: “I knew that it would be a fun surprise as well for my now husband, who didn’t know, and he was really over the moon to find out that I would make this choice for our day together.”
She added: “I think the other members of the family had a similar reaction and just appreciation for the fact that we understand how important this is for us and the role that we play, and the work that we’re gonna continue to do within the Commonwealth countries.
“So, yeah, it was good news all around, I think, so I hope people liked it as much as I liked helping to create it.”
Meghan, 37, said she had “two or three” meetings with Claire Waight Keller, the designer behind her elaborate dress, to look at sketches and discuss ideas to make the flowers come to life.
She said: “After those, I trusted her implicitly, and I didn’t really see it until the morning of.”
Meghan also revealed that she hid another personal memento in the veil, her bridal “something blue”.
Looking back at her wedding dress, she said: “Somewhere in here there’s a piece of blue fabric that’s stitched inside — it was my something blue.
“It’s fabric from the dress that I wore on our first date.”
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