The Queen has banned Meghan Markle from wearing jewelry made famous by Princess Diana.
The move has escalated tensions between the Duchess and senior royals — and upset Harry. The Queen made Prince William personally aware of her decision to ban Meghan from wearing jewelry from the Royal Collection — sparking further tensions between him and brother Harry.
Her Maj in the past has gladly loaned iconic pieces to Princess Diana and William’s wife, Kate — but sources say she has been less than impressed by some of Meghan’s behavior. On Wednesday night, our impeccably placed royal insider revealed: “This is a surprising situation that has been going on behind the scenes over the past few months and has caused tension and upset, especially for Harry.”
“It is at the discretion of the Queen and trusted advisers which items in the Royal Collection she chooses to loan out and to whom. Aspects of Meghan’s behavior, including before the Royal Wedding, caused resentment with forces within Buckingham Palace. To be perfectly honest, the Queen herself was not impressed with some of Meghan’s demands, especially as a new member of the family. As a result, Buckingham Palace has decided that not all items from the Queen’s royal collection will be opened up to Meghan.”
“As part of that situation, the Queen informed Prince William that the items from the Royal Collection worn by Princess Diana would not immediately be made available to Meghan.”
The senior source added: “The Queen likes Meghan personally but this is about the hierarchy. She is showing that maintaining the correct order and precedence within the family is important. Even if Meghan is the most popular woman in the world, she is of a lower rank than Kate.”
The Duchess was stopped from wearing an emerald tiara at her nuptials last May, leading hubby Harry to explode: “What Meghan wants, Meghan gets.”
She eventually wore a diamond and platinum headpiece chosen by the Queen. Sources at the time said Meghan “can be difficult” and has “high standards” because she is “used to working in a Hollywood environment.”
There are now wider limits in place over the Royal Collection, which resulted in Prince Charles telling Meghan not to wear a tiara on a visit to Fiji in October.
The art collection, amassed over 400 years and comprising more than a million objects, is held by the ruling monarch. Many are inherited while some are the Queen’s personal items.
Diana borrowed a four-row Japanese pearl choker for a state banquet in 1982. The Queen Mary Cambridge Lover’s Knot tiara has been known as Kate’s go-to hair accessory. She wore it as recently as October for a Dutch state banquet, while the Queen reportedly loaned it to Diana as a wedding gift in 1981.
The Queen wore a diamond necklace, a 1947 wedding gift from the Nizam of Hyderabad, at Paddington Station in June 2017. Kate wore it in 2014 for a gala evening at the National Portrait Gallery.
Another senior royal insider explained: “It is true that Buckingham Palace did not want all the items in the Royal Collection to be opened up to Meghan at this time.
“Obviously Kate as the next Princess of Wales and a senior member of the family does have them made available to her. That’s not to say items won’t be loaned to Meghan in the future if situations change.”
Meghan has been able to wear jewelry from Diana’s personal collection, which the princess allocated to her sons’ future wives before her death.
As a result, Meghan has worn Di’s butterfly earrings, gold bracelet and an aquamarine ring. Her engagement ring also features two diamond stones from the princess’ personal collection.
William and Harry’s relationship has deteriorated over the past year, partly due to clashes between Kate and Meghan.
The tension has seen Harry and his wife leave Kensington Palace to set up home in Windsor away from his brother. The princes have also decided to formally separate their households.
Buckingham and Kensington palaces declined to comment.