Meghan Markle's Claim She Couldn't Invite Her Niece to Her Wedding Is a "Complete and Utter Lie," Palace Source Claims

My head hurts with all these claims.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
(Image credit: Photo by Danny Lawson / Getty)

Anonymous Palace sources are denying claims made by Meghan Markle in Harry & Meghan on Netflix.

In the third episode released last week, the audience is introduced to Ashleigh Hale, Meghan's niece and the daughter of Samantha Markle.

The Duchess of Sussex recalls her heartbreak at being told by the Firm that Hale couldn't come to her wedding to Prince Harry, because it would look bad that she was invited but Samantha wasn't.

"That just didn’t happen," a Palace source hit back, speaking to the The Sunday Times (via OK!).

"We never gave any advice, steer or guidance on who of her family or friends should or shouldn’t come."

They further explained that Meghan wanted to shield Hale from the onslaught of media attention and claimed that it was her who decided not to invite her niece.

"It was not a question she put to us," the source continued. "We would never tell her not to invite her own niece and we would never get involved in any management of personal relationships."

Another royal insider chimed in, "Meghan didn’t want the media to know about Ashleigh. No one on earth would have said don’t invite family to the wedding. That’s a complete and utter lie.

"We wanted more family there to make it look less weird for her."

Writing in this week's column for Yahoo!, Omid Scobie explains that a "royal source" is "usually code for someone at the Palace who doesn’t want to go on the record."

With claims that so clearly contradict each other, it's getting harder and harder to decipher who's telling the truth, and it's possible we'll never truly know. Maybe it's all a terrible misunderstanding?

Iris Goldsztajn
Morning Editor

Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Bustle and Shape. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.