Pippa Middleton’s 2017 wedding came with a set of strict rules — one of which kept Prince Harry and Meghan Markle apart for most of the day. But there was a very specific reason behind it.
Let’s face it: weddings these days, especially in 2025, often feel more like full-blown events than simple ceremonies.
And if you’re part of the royal circle, things tend to get dialed up even more — more lavish, more formal, more over-the-top than the average person could imagine.
The royals are known for following some pretty unusual protocols, but they also like to lay down their own rules, even when it’s not strictly necessary.
Though Pippa Middleton isn’t officially a royal, her wedding in 2017 was planned with the same level of precision and attention to detail you’d expect from the royal family.
The Princess of Wales’ sister had a few unusual rules in place for her wedding — and one in particular was aimed at Meghan and Harry, who were under intense media scrutiny at the time.
Although she’s now 41 and married to James Matthews, both she and her mother, Carole Middleton, felt that the newly famous royal couple might overshadow the event if they attended the ceremony together.
So instead, Meghan stayed at a nearby Airbnb, where she did her own hair and makeup before heading to the reception.
Harry went to the ceremony separately, arriving with his brother, Prince William — all before their relationship took a turn for the worse.
But that wasn’t the only rule that kept Meghan and Harry apart during the day.
At the reception, Pippa had organized a strict seating plan that intentionally split up all couples — meaning no one was seated with their partner.
As a result, Harry found himself next to ITV News at Ten presenter Tom Bradby, while Meghan was seated beside Mirka, the wife of tennis star Roger Federer.
Naturally, they were allowed to reunite after the meal, and according to sources, the two spent the rest of the evening dancing together — making up for the time they’d spent apart earlier in the day.
Pippa, who used to work as an events planner, clearly knew how to host a spectacular celebration — and she didn’t overlook the finer details either.
Because the reception was held in a marquee outdoors, she needed a solution to avoid having royal guests use standard portable toilets — which, let’s be honest, would’ve been far from ideal.
So instead, she arranged for custom-made ‘throne rooms’ to be set up — designed to look like upscale, permanent bathrooms, complete with porcelain sinks, spotlights, and full-length mirrors.
A girl can dream, right?