Pippa Middleton had concerns that Meghan Markle would "overshadow" her on her wedding day, royal experts have claim.
The Duchess of Cambridge's younger sister married James Matthew in a stunning ceremony on May 20, 2017, at St Mark's Church in Englefield, with nephew Prince George and niece Princess Charlotte as the pageboy and bridesmaid.
To make sure all eyes were on the bride, Kate decided not to be a bridesmaid or maid of honour.
Author and royal correspondent Judy Wade told People magazine she made this decision so as not to "upstage her sister", and instead, she was Pippa's matron of honour.
But the main issue was Meghan Markle, who had just started dating Prince Harry at the time.
Their relationship, which they'd successfully managed to keep a secret for five months, was now in the headlines and royal fans were desperate to see the new couple together.
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In their book Finding Freedom, authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, claim that Meghan had planned to attend the full day, and even bought her outfit, but the decision was made that she skip it.
They claim that Pippa and her mum Carole were concerned that Meghan's presence may "overshadow the main event".
The authors also claim that a headline that ran on the day of the wedding, which compared Pippa and Meghan's bottoms, was the final straw.
They write: "Harry and Meghan agreed that she couldn't possibly turn up at the church, only fifty metres away from a specially arranged media pen, after such a crass cover story.
"If they worried their arrival might create a media circus despite taking every precaution, now they had no doubt that it would.
"Meghan's church outfit and Philip Treacy hat would have to be worn another time."
Instead, Harry dropped Meghan off at another wedding guest's Airbnb then drove to the church alone.
During this time, Meghan got ready for the reception and waited for Harry to return so they could have lunch together before they drove back to the Middleton's house for the evening celebrations.
But when they got there, Meghan didn't get to spend the evening with Harry by her side as she imagined.
Scobie and Durand write: "Sitting together in the custom glass marquee that has been erected on the eighteen-acre property should have been a fun night for the couple, but, per Pippa's request, no couples sat together."
The idea of splitting couples up is unusual, but it's a good way of encouraging guests to get to know new people, with Harry spending the evening with TV news anchor Tom Bradby, and Meghan was with Rodger Federer's wife Mirka.
Once the sitdown meal was over, the couple came back together and caught each other up on who they'd met before finally heading back to their Kensington Palace home, Nottingham Cottage at 2am.
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