A woman who helped make Meghan Markle's wedding dress thinks the duchess 'misjudged the role' of being a royal
- Chloe Savage, Meghan Markle's wedding-dress maker, said Markle "misjudged the role" of being a royal.
- Savage said Kate Middleton had "plenty of time to adjust," while Markle "dived in headfirst."
- "The royal family has broken people before," Savage said, later adding: "It virtually broke Diana."
As one of the women who helped make Meghan Markle's iconic wedding dress, the professional embroiderer Chloe Savage had a behind-the-scenes peek at the royal wedding that would capture the world's attention.
Fast-forward nearly three years, and Markle and Prince Harry have since taken a step back from the royal family to forge their own path in California with their 20-month-old son, Archie.
It's a move that surprised many. But Savage told Insider she believed the former actress wasn't adequately prepared for the pressure that comes with being a royal.
"I think she misjudged the role," Savage said. "The royal family has broken people before. Kate had plenty of time to adapt and adjust to it. They gave her time, whereas Meghan sort of dived in headfirst."
While Kate Middleton and Prince William dated for eight years before their 2011 wedding, Markle and Harry announced their engagement just a year after publicly confirming their relationship.
Savage said she didn't think Markle was prepared for all the "rules and regulations" required of a British royal.
"It virtually broke Diana. It broke Sarah Ferguson," Savage said. "It has broken people before. I know it's looser now than it used to be, but even then, I don't think she was prepared for the things she could and couldn't do, say, and wear."
She added: "She could have carved herself an outstanding role, but I think she found the whole thing very difficult. She's always been able to do as she's pleased when she's pleased, and unfortunately, with the royal family, granny rules - quite simply."
Representatives for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Markle and Harry have been open about the immense pressure they've felt over the past few years
Harry recently said the media pushed a "false narrative" about his and Markle's relationship.
"My story had been told one way, my wife's story had been told one way, and then our union sparked something that made the telling of that story very different," he told Fast Company in an interview published Friday.
"That false narrative became the mothership for all of the harassment you're referring to. It wouldn't have even begun had our story just been told truthfully," he added.
Markle said she wasn't prepared for the attention she would receive from British tabloids after she began dating Harry
"It's hard. I don't think anyone can understand that, but in all fairness, I had no idea," she told the journalist Tom Bradby in her famous candid interview featured in the 2019 ITV documentary "Harry and Meghan: An African Journey."
Markle said that when she first told her British friends she was dating Harry, they told her to end it.
"My British friends said to me, 'I'm sure he's great, but you shouldn't do it because the British tabloids will destroy your life,'" she told Bradby.
But Markle said she had thought they were overreacting.
"What are you talking about? That doesn't make any sense. I'm not in tabloids," she recalled telling them. "I didn't get it."
The Duchess of Sussex said she then 'tried to adopt this British sensibility of a stiff upper lip'
"I tried, I tried. But I think what that does internally is probably really damaging," Markle added. "It's not enough to just survive something, right? That's not the point of life. You've got to thrive; you've got to feel happy."
More recently, Bradby said he thought the couple were "content" with their new life in the US since stepping back from the royal family.
"I think they are feeling better, yes," Bradby said on ITV's "Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh" earlier this month.
"So are they unhappy? No," he added. "I think they are content. The things they are doing they are quite excited by."
- Read more:
- A complete timeline of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's first year since leaving the royal family
- A woman who helped make both Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle's wedding dresses said Princess Diana's iconic gown 'looked like it needed to be pressed'
- A woman who helped make both Kate Middleton's and Meghan Markle's wedding dresses says she's on the brink of homelessness
- Prince Harry blamed social media for the Capitol siege and opened up about the online harassment Meghan Markle faced