Why Meghan Markle’s decision to wear a £60,000 Dior gown during her 2019 Morocco visit ‘angered’ Queen Elizabeth – as she warned it was an ‘ill-judged choice’

Despite being at the heart of the pomp and ceremony of the Royal Family, the late Queen Elizabeth II was notoriously frugal – in part due to her wartime upbringing.

She came from a generation that famously learned how to make do and mend – collecting ration coupons for her wedding dress, recycling her wardrobe and even sharing her hand-me-downs with senior staff.

So when Her Majesty’s new granddaughter-in-law, Meghan Markle, wore an eye-wateringly expensive Christian Dior gown for an official engagement in 2019, it did not sit well with Elizabeth. 

According to royal biographer Robert Jobson, the £60,000 price tag for the kaftan-inspired Dior gown that Meghan wore to the British ambassador’s residence in Rabat, Morocco, ‘drew the Queen’s ire when she read about it in the press’.  

‘She later let Meghan know that such an expensive outfit was an ill-judged choice,’ Mr Jobson wrote in his book The Windsor Legacy: A Royal Dynasty of Secrets, Scandal and Survival.

Yet the Duchess appeared not to heed the sovereign’s warning as she was spotted in custom and high-end designer pieces several times during her time as a working royal. 

This also wouldn’t be the last time Meghan’s actions upset the monarch, Mr Jobson added. 

The Queen was said to have been so upset when she read that Harry, now 41, and Meghan, now 44, had named their second child, daughter Lilibet, after her, that she ‘threw the paper to the floor, startling the staff’.

When Her Majesty’s new granddaughter-in-law, Meghan Markle, wore an eye-wateringly expensive Christian Dior gown (pictured) for an official engagement in 2019, it did not sit well with the late Queen

‘She later let Meghan know that such an expensive outfit was an ill-judged choice,’ royal author Robert Jobson wrote in his book The Windsor Legacy: A Royal Dynasty of Secrets, Scandal and Survival

The incident occurred two months after the death of the Queen’s beloved husband Prince Philip in April 2021.  

A BBC report published swiftly after the name was announced claimed that the Monarch had not been made aware Harry and Meghan’s daughter had been given her childhood nickname. 

Harry, however, vehemently insisted that the couple had the Queen’s blessing, with the Sussexes’ spokesman insisting that the pair would never have used the name if the late Monarch had not been ‘supportive’.

‘The Duke spoke with his family in advance of the announcement – in fact, his grandmother was the first family member he called. 

‘During that conversation, he shared their hope of naming their daughter Lilibet in her honour. Had she not been supportive, they would not have used the name.’

Yet Mr Jobson revealed that within the Palace walls, the response was far from positive.

Citing a palace source, he wrote that when Her Majesty first learned of Lilibet’s name via the press, she became ‘so incensed at the affront that she threw the paper to the floor, startling the staff’. 

The Duchess appeared not to heed the sovereign’s warning as she was spotted in custom and high-end designer pieces several times during her time as a working royal

Citing a palace source, Mr Jobson wrote that when Her Majesty first learned of Lilibet’s (pictured) name via the press she became ‘so incensed at the affront that she threw the paper to the floor, startling the staff’

Royal author Valentine Low reported that the Queen told an aide: ‘I don’t own the palaces, I don’t own the paintings, the only thing I own is my name. 

‘And now they’ve taken that,’ Mr Low wrote in his book Courtiers. 

Adding insult to injury, Harry and Meghan also allegedly skipped a tea with the Queen without any warning. 

Mr Jobson, who described afternoon tea as the monarch’s most ‘precious’ daily ritual, explained that Elizabeth had even requested a special cake be made for the occasion. 

However, the Queen – whose health was ‘rapidly declining’ and often felt rather ‘lonely’ – allegedly heard ‘no word’ from the pair on the day of their scheduled meeting and eventually asked that everything be cleared away.

‘After the loss of her husband, the Queen spent nearly all her time at Windsor Castle, where she had few visitors,’ Mr Jobson described the final chapter of the Queen’s life. 

‘Her days were quiet, her health was rapidly declining and she was often lonely.’

When she tragically died on September 8, 2022, aged 96, the nation was plunged into mourning as Britain’s longest-reigning monarch was laid to rest.