Meghan ‘decided not to invite niece’ to her wedding, despite claim she was ‘guided’ not to by Palace

Royal insiders last night poured scorn on Meghan Markle’s claim that the Palace had ‘guided’ her not to invite a family member to her 2018 wedding with Prince Harry.

In the Netflix series Harry & Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex describes a ‘painful’ conversation with Ashleigh Hale, daughter of her estranged half-sister Samantha, after advice from the palace.

She says: ‘The guidance at the time was to not have her [Ashleigh] come to our wedding. I was in the car with H, I called her… and we talked her through what guidance we were being given.’

Viewers are led to believe that because Samantha wasn’t invited, it was suggested an invitation should not be extended to Ashleigh.

Meghan described the conversation she had to have with Ashleigh and explain the reason why she could no longer attend as ‘painful’

One source noted the irony that Ashleigh, who Meghan had sought to shield from media intrusion, now appears on camera as part of the global Netflix programme 

But a well-placed source told The Mail on Sunday: ‘It was completely in Meghan’s gift as to which members of her friends and family to invite to her wedding. It wasn’t a discussion, it was her decision.’

One source noted the irony that Ashleigh, who Meghan had sought to shield from media intrusion, now appears on camera as part of the global Netflix programme.

As well as the suggestion that courtiers manipulated the guest list for the wedding, there is also the insinuation – strongly denied by Palace insiders – that they also tried to stop Meghan communicating with Ashleigh.

In the six-part series, Ashleigh appears tearful in an interview. She says: ‘Communication with Meg became less and less frequent… my impression was that her relationships were being managed.’