Meghan and Harry Mark 8 Years With Unseen Wedding Photos

Eight years in, and Meghan Markle still had a surprise up her sleeve.

On May 19 — the anniversary of one of the most-watched weddings in modern history — the Duchess of Sussex took to Instagram to share two sets of photos that the world had never seen before. The caption was simple: “Eight years ago today…”

The first post took fans behind the scenes of the daytime ceremony at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor. There was Meghan and Prince Harry relaxed in the cloisters after saying their vows, Harry gesturing toward her wedding bouquet. There were candid shots from the official portrait session. And there was Elton John — caught in black and white at the piano, mid-performance at the lunchtime reception. (A guest told People at the time that one of his songs was “Tiny Dancer,” which he dedicated to Meghan.)

The second post was the one that really lit up timelines: never-before-seen footage of the couple’s first dance. Meghan’s arms draped around Harry’s neck, the two of them spinning together, guests filling the floor around them. She paired the Instagram Story with the actual song they chose — Wilson Pickett’s “Land of 1000 Dances.”

“I just really wanted the music to be fun, even our first dance,” Meghan said in a clip from their Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan. “I remember just spinning like a whirlwind. It was so great.”

The Wedding the World Watched — and Some Details It Missed

When Harry and Meghan married on May 19, 2018, an estimated 1.9 billion people tuned in worldwide — making it one of the biggest televised events of all time. Inside St. George’s Chapel, 600 guests watched the ceremony in person, including Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Prince William and Kate Middleton, Serena Williams, George and Amal Clooney, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, the Beckhams, Carey Mulligan, Marcus Mumford and Oprah Winfrey. Harry’s ex-girlfriends Cressida Bonas and Chelsy Davy were also there — just another detail that made the day feel distinctly, unusually human for a royal event.

Meghan wore a gown by Givenchy artistic director Clare Waight Keller — a design reportedly inspired by Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, with an open bateau neckline, three-quarter sleeves and a 9-foot train. Her 16-foot veil was embroidered with flowers from all 53 Commonwealth countries, plus California poppies for her home state and forget-me-nots honoring Princess Diana. Hidden inside the veil was her “something blue” — a piece of fabric from her very first date with Harry.

Her tiara, the Queen Mary Diamond Bandeau borrowed from the royal vault, served as both “something old” and “something borrowed.” At the evening reception at Frogmore House, she changed into a custom silk Stella McCartney halter gown and wore a giant aquamarine cocktail ring that had belonged to Diana.

Harry wore a Blues and Royals frock coat uniform — chosen with permission from the Queen. “I think it’s one of the smartest household cavalry uniforms,” he later explained at the couple’s Windsor wedding exhibit. “It’s one of my favorites, and I was very fortunate to be able to wear that on the day.”

Prince Charles walked Meghan halfway down the aisle, stepping in after her father Thomas Markle was unable to attend. The moment was so meaningful that Charles and Queen Camilla later displayed a black-and-white photo of it at their Clarence House residence. “Him, as my father-in-law, was important to me,” Meghan said on the Netflix docuseries.

The ceremony itself was unlike any royal wedding before it. American Bishop Michael Bruce Curry delivered a sermon that quoted Martin Luther King Jr. A gospel choir sang “Stand By Me.” Nineteen-year-old cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason performed a solo — Meghan had personally called to ask him. As the newlyweds walked out to their carriage, Etta James’ “This Little Light of Mine” played. Elton John, who had famously performed a revised “Candle in the Wind” at Diana’s funeral, sang at the luncheon. “It felt like a party, and it felt like progress had been made,” John later told CNN.

The wedding cake — a lemon sponge with elderflower syrup, Amalfi lemon curd and Swiss meringue buttercream, made by Claire Ptak of London’s Violet Cakes — broke from the royal fruitcake tradition. Ptak later told Tatler that Meghan gave her complete creative freedom: “Meghan specifically said to me, ‘I don’t want to tell you what to do… the reason why I’ve chosen you is because I love your baking and your work and your point of view.’”

At the evening reception, Idris Elba held down the DJ booth — admittedly nervous about the gig. “This wasn’t like my cousin’s wedding,” he told the Daily Mail. “This was a big, big deal.” Meghan had sent him a playlist in advance. George Clooney, for his part, hopped behind the bar and started mixing cocktails. Serena Williams played beer pong. James Corden arrived at the evening party in a Tudor costume — a bit, he later clarified, not a fashion choice.

“There’s no doubt how in love they are,” a wedding guest told People at the time.

The Vows They Said — and the Ones They Said First

One detail that resurfaced this anniversary week: the claim Meghan made during her 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview that she and Harry had privately exchanged vows three days before the official ceremony, in a backyard ceremony at Nottingham Cottage on the Kensington Palace grounds. “This thing, this spectacle is for the world, but we want our union to be between us,” she said at the time.

The General Register Office later released the couple’s official marriage certificate, which lists May 19, 2018 as the date. A spokesperson for the Sussexes clarified that the earlier event involved only “privately exchanged personal vows.” Archbishop Justin Welby also weighed in, telling Italy’s La Repubblica that he had only met the couple “in a private and pastoral setting” beforehand. “The legal wedding was on the Saturday,” he said. “I signed the wedding certificate which is a legal document, and I would have committed a serious criminal offence if I signed it knowing it was false.”

Eight Years Later: Love, Business, and a Lot of Noise

The anniversary lands during a particularly loud moment for the Sussexes. Harry and Meghan now live in Montecito, California with their two children — Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 4. The spring season is dense with family milestones: Archie’s birthday is May 6, Lilibet’s is June 4, and the family recently celebrated with a trip to Disneyland, joined by Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland.

Both have spoken openly about what their life in America means to them. “I enjoy living [in the U.S.] and bringing my kids up here,” Harry said at the New York Times DealBook Summit in December 2024. “It’s a part of my life that I never thought I was going to live, and it feels as though it’s the life that my mom wanted for me.” His “main goal” since the move, he said, is to be “the best dad and best husband.”

Meghan, for her part, has continued to speak warmly about their partnership. “No one in the world loves me more than him, so I know he’s always going to make sure that he has my back,” she told Harper’s Bazaar in a November 2025 interview. She described Harry as someone with “childlike wonder and playfulness” that still shapes how they approach everything — including business.

And the business side is busy. Meghan has been expanding her As Ever lifestyle brand and has reportedly joined AI-powered fashion platform OneOff as both a featured personality and investor. During a recent trip to Sydney, Australia, her fashion choices were linked to the platform, drawing more than a million page views in three days with several items selling out. She also appeared at a women’s retreat where VIP packages were priced at $3,199.

On the production front, Deadline reported in May that Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Productions is developing a Netflix feature film — an adaptation of No Way Out, a book about British soldiers trapped during a siege in Afghanistan. Oscar-nominated screenwriter Matt Charman is reportedly writing the script. The project is said to be deeply personal for Harry, who served two tours in Afghanistan.

But the anniversary has also brought renewed criticism from royal commentators. Several experts have called out the couple’s recent trips to Nigeria, Colombia, Australia and Ukraine as “faux royal tours” that blur the line between private citizens and working royals. “What Queen Elizabeth II viewed as totally and utterly unacceptable has been adopted by the Sussexes as their modus operandi,” British royals expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital. Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams echoed the sentiment, noting the contrast with King Charles’ recent U.S. state visit and Princess Catherine’s first official overseas trip in three years.

A source close to Harry pushed back: “This idea that he’s going against the wishes of the queen by being half-in, half-out is nonsense. None of this is being done in the name of the institution.”

There are also reports of internal friction. According to sources cited by Closer magazine and RadarOnline, Harry has reportedly felt out of place in the Hollywood social circles Meghan has been cultivating — including her friendship with Kris Jenner, who publicly supported the As Ever brand by promoting it to her followers. After Jenner’s 70th birthday party in November, the couple reportedly asked her to take down photos of them, with Kim Kardashian describing the situation as “really innocent” on her sister’s podcast. An unnamed insider claimed Harry finds the whole scene “a little embarrassing” — though other sources close to the couple reportedly consider that framing unfair and rooted in sexist assumptions about ambitious women.

Reports of financial pressure have also been circulating, with insiders suggesting the couple’s security costs and lifestyle expenses outpace their income — though neither Harry nor Meghan has addressed the claims publicly.

What they have done is mark eight years with a kiss, a first dance, and a song choice that says everything about how they’ve always done things: their way, with a little extra fun thrown in.

“I want us to play and have fun and explore and be creative,” Meghan told Harper’s Bazaar. That, at least, hasn’t changed.