"We could feel Meghan's energy on that day," a friend tells PEOPLE
Millions from around the world watched as Meghan Markle and Prince Harry said their wedding vows in May. But despite the fanfare, the new Duchess of Sussex exuded tranquility on her special day.
“We could feel Meg’s energy on that day,” a close confidante tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story. “The calm that she moves with. That’s how it felt because that’s how she and Harry are as a couple.”
A longtime friend of Meghan’s adds, “The day after the wedding I said, ‘You were so serene.’ She has a huge loving fondness for Archbishop [Justin] Welby. She’s like, ‘I’m there, I’m with Harry, I’m with you guys, and I’m with the leader of my church.’ She doesn’t think about the narrative: ‘What will people think?’ She doesn’t do that. She really lives in the current moment. And when you do that, there’s no fear.”
Following the royal wedding, British tabloids painted a very different story. They touted Meghan as a demanding and high-maintenance bride, commanding a specific tiara and ordering that St. George’s Chapel be sprayed with air freshener to cover any musky odor.
“She didn’t throw a fit about a tiara or ask for fragrance to be sprayed in the church,” her close confidante says. “Those are outrageous claims and 100 percent untrue.”
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Her longtime friend also calls the rumors “ridiculous.”
“If people knew how spiritual she is and how serious and respectful she takes her relationship with God—she would never ask for something like that,” Meghan’s friend explains.