Meghan Markle reveals the moment she saw her wedding veil for the first time

It was the Duchess of Sussex’s idea to pay tribute to the Commonwealth with her veil

When Meghan Markle married Prince Harry on May 19 this year, one of the highlights of her wedding ensemble was the highly intricate 16-foot veil designed by Clare Waight Keller that she wore to accompany her Givenchy gown.

Not only was the veil ornately embroidered, but it was also very symbolic, decorated with delicate flowers to represent each of the 53 countries in the Commonwealth.

While it was the Duchess of Sussex's initial idea to pay tribute to the Commonwealth with her veil, she didn’t actually see it until the day of the wedding.

The Duchess of Sussex walking into St George's Chapel for her wedding on May 19 (Getty Images)

Four months on, she’s now taken a closer look at the veil for the first time since her nuptials as part of the ITV documentary Queen of the World, which explores the Queen's role and the extent of her influence as a world leader.

At first, the duchess wasn’t entirely sure how to represent the Commonwealth in the veil’s floral design.

“I’d originally said to Clare Waight Keller, the designer, ‘How can we incorporate that? Would it be the state flower, country flower of each place?’” she said.

Waight Keller, who became the first female artistic director of French luxury fashion house Givenchy last year, was the one who came up with the idea of embellishing the veil with wild flowers from each of the Commonwealth nations.

Some of the flowers featured include the tropical orchid from Kenya, the white water lily from Bangladesh, the bunchberry from Canada and the chaconia flower from Trinidad and Tobago.

Two additional flowers were also added to the veil’s final design, including the California poppy to pay tribute to the American state in which the duchess was born.

The duchess and Waight Keller met around two or three times prior to the wedding to discuss the final design for the veil.

It then took the embroiderers around 500 hours in total to complete their intricate work.

Representing the Commonwealth with her veil was especially significant for the duchess, due to her husband’s role as Youth Ambassador for the Commonwealth.

From October this year, members of the public will be able to feast their eyes on Meghan and Prince Harry’s wedding outfits as part of a new exhibition, titled A Royal Wedding: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

While speaking in the documentary, Meghan expressed her hope that people from countries in the Commonwealth who visit the exhibition will be able to find their nation’s flower when looking at the elaborate veil.

While explaining how the many elements of her wedding ensemble had come together, Meghan also revealed that a small piece of blue fabric had been stitched into her dress as her “something blue”.

The fabric had come from the dress that she wore for her first date with Prince Harry.

A Royal Wedding: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex exhibition will be opening at Windsor Castle from October 26 until January 6 2019 and then at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh from June 14 2019 until October 6 2019.