Not yet engaged and less than a year into their relationship, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were set to enjoy Pippa Middleton’s wedding reception in each other’s company.

But the Princess of Wales’s younger sister had other ideas – with a strict seating plan that separated every couple in attendance. 

It meant that instead of spending the evening together as a new couple, Harry was sat with ITV News at Ten presenter Tom Bradby while Meghan dined with Roger Federer’s wife Mirka.

Guests enjoyed a meal of trout and lamb at the 2017 nuptials of Pippa and hedge fund manager James Matthews, washed down with ‘2002 Dom Ruinart Champagne’, according to Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand’s biography of the Sussexes, Finding Freedom.

James Matthews and Pippa Middleton leave St Mark’s Church on their wedding day in 2017

‘Sitting together in the custom glass marquee that had been erected on the 18-acre property should have been a fun night for the couple, but, per Pippa’s request, no couples sat together,’  they wrote. 

Harry and Meghan, who was still new to royal circles at the time, reunited near the dance floor after the meal. And while ‘the old Harry would have certainly closed at the bash with the rest of his friends’, Mr Scobie and Ms Durand note that the then 32-year-old prince instead spent the remainder of the evening catching up with his girlfriend.

The seating chart was not the only challenge faced by the pair that day, with Meghan absent from the ceremony at St. Mark’s Church in Englefield, West Berkshire.

Pippa and her mother, Carole Middleton, apparently shared concerns that the presence of the royal couple might overshadow the big day. 

Meghan Markle wears a black dress to Luminato’s Big Bang Bash in 2016

Prince William and Prince Harry at Pippa’s wedding in Berkshire

St Mark’s Church in Englefield, where Pippa and James wed in 2017

The future Duke and Duchess of Sussex eventually agreed it would be best for Meghan to avoid the church and media.

The authors of Finding Freedom say that Harry and Meghan then came up with a plan which saw them drive out to Berkshire on the day of the wedding. 

Meghan stayed in an Airbnb that a close friend had rented on her behalf while Harry attended the service in Englefield.

Meghan did her own makeup and put on a black dress before Harry returned to the Airbnb for a spot of lunch with his partner.  He then drove them both to the reception at the Middleton’s Bucklebury home.    

Kate adjusting her sister’s dress as she enters the church on her wedding day

The glass marquee in Bucklebury, Berkshire where Pippa’s wedding reception was held 

Beautiful bride Pippa wore a flowing lace gown with a heart-shaped open back, designed by Giles Deacon. She carried a bouquet of peony, sweet pea, astilbe, freesia, waxflower, green bell and mollis.

Prince George, who was just three at the time, and Princess Charlotte, then two, stole the show as page boy and mini bridesmaid. (Pippa is said to dislike the term ‘flower girl’.)

George wore an adorable button-up shirt and beige trousers, while his sister sported an ivory dress with a blush pink bow and flower crown, along with a little basket.