Did Kate Middleton Wear White to Meghan Markle’s Wedding?

The release of Prince Harry’s memoir, “Spare,” has led to a flurry of new revelations examining his troubled royal family ties, claiming fractiousness as he awaited his marriage to Megan Markle.

Stories about violence with his brother, that he was never able to hug his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, and labeling the royal clan a “death cult”, are among just some of the allegations the king’s son details in the new book.

Seemingly refreshed by these new confessions, older rumors about Prince Harry’s family have emerged, including that his sister-in-law made a deliberate faux-pas at his wedding to Meghan Markle.

The Claims

A tweet, posted on January 19, 2023, with almost a million views, claimed that the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, wore white at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding. The tweet also claims that Queen Consort Camilla Parker-Bowles did the same at Princess Diana’s wedding in 1981.

The Facts

Prince Harry’s autobiography has magnified his distance from the Royal Family and Buckingham Palace, with claims (among others) that his brother manhandled him ahead of his marriage to Meghan Markle and her as “difficult,” “rude” and “abrasive”.

The claim shared on Twitter appears to hint that tensions were reaching a tipping point when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle married, inferring a passive-aggressive relationship between the couple and Kate Middleton.

It is true that in the photos of Kate standing outside St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, it does look like she may be wearing white, a convention many believe wedding guests should avoid so as not to upstage the bride.

A similar claim about Kate Middleton was made in a May 2022 viral TikTok video, viewed more than 4.3 million times, with the title: “Did Kate Wear White to Meghan’s Wedding?”

“You are definitely not alone if you are looking at pictures of Kate at Harry and Meghan’s wedding and thinking ‘hang on—why is she wearing white?'” the account owner said in the clip.

The rest of the clip, which has been viewed over 100,000 times, goes on to contextualize the debate which is focused on whether the Alexander McQueen coat dress worn by Kate on the day was white.

Settling the debate, a Royal Family press releasesissued on the day of the wedding, stated the dress was, in fact, yellow.

“Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge will be wearing a primrose yellow wool silk tailored coat by Alexander McQueen,” it said. “The Duchess of Cambridge is wearing a hat designed by Philip Treacy and shoes by Jimmy Choo.”

It seems that the bright sunlight in the photo of the Duchess of Cambridge outside Windsor Castle intensified the reflection from the already pale fabric, effectively bleaching its appearance when photographed.

Photos taken from inside the ceremony, under more muted light, clearly showing that the dress is a light yellow color.

A separate claim that Camilla Parker-Bowles, the Queen Consort, wore white on the day of Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s wedding, also appears to be misleading.

Camilla did attend Charles and Diana’s wedding in 1981. However, aaccording to Insidersin a revised edition of the book “Diana: Her True Story – In Her Own Words”, Diana told biographer Andrew Morton in 1991 that Camilla was not wearing white.

“I knew she was in there, of course. I looked for her,” Princess Diana told Morton. “So walking down the aisle, I spotted Camilla, pale gray, veiled pillbox hat, saw it all, her son Tom standing on a chair. To this day, you know—vivid memory.”

The Ruling

False.

Although the dress appears white in some photos, it is the result of bright sunlight reflecting off the surface of the pale, yellow material, making it appear white.

Photos shot indoors, under less strict light, show that Kate Middleton’s dress was yellow, as confirmed in a statement by Buckingham Palace.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek’s Fact Check team