Dress Fittings, Nails, and Red Wine: How Meghan Markle Is Preparing for the Royal Wedding

With the royal wedding just nine days away and no more official engagements on their calendars, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are ticking off the final to-dos before they say “I do.”

Meghan, who is said to have largely planned the wedding with her best friend, Canadian stylist, Jessica Mulroney, is “on top of everything,” according to one friend, and looking forward to welcoming her parents to the U.K. next week. “Meghan can’t wait to see them and show them her new home. There won’t be a rehearsal dinner. Instead, Meg has planned a number of low-key events for her parents so they can meet her new friends,” a source said.

As Vanity Fairreported last week, there will be a private family meeting so that Harry’s family, including his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, can meet Meghan’s parents, Thomas Markle and Doria Ragland. Her parents will spend a brief amount of time in London before heading to Windsor, where there will be a dress rehearsal ahead of the big day. While the palace has not yet confirmed where Markle and Ragland will be staying, a royal source said that the Queen has offered Meghan and her family Frogmore House for the duration of their stay in Windsor.

Meanwhile, Meghan has been busily zooming around the capital doing last-minute pre-wedding jobs. Her schedule is being managed by Harry’s senior communications officer, Amy Pickerill, while the actress has an army of professionals on hand to get her ready for May 19. According to sources, she has had her final dress fitting and is said to be overjoyed with her bespoke wedding gown. (Bookmakers stopped taking bets on the designer of the dress in late March; photographs were released of Harry leaving Ralph & Russo last week.)

It is thought that Harry and his family will pay for the dress, which is rumored to cost £100,000 and is said to be adorned with hand-stitched beading. Meghan is also said to have booked the services of celebrity stylist Miguel Perez, known for “bouncy curls,” to do her wedding-day hair. Though The Mail on Sunday recently quoted Perez saying that he and Meghan “have a plan” for the wedding day, Perez has since taken to Instagram to say that he is not doing Meghan’s hair and “did not even meet Meghan.”

Meghan has made an appointment to see her trusted facialist, Nichola Joss, whose signature facial involves massaging inside the mouth to lift and sculpt the muscle. Her manicurist has been booked to come to Kensington Palace next week to ensure her nails look perfect for that all important close up when she and Harry exchange rings. And Meghan has been working out, doing regular workouts at Kensington Palace and Heartcore Pilates, with her friend, instructor Heather Dorak, to combat her pre-wedding nerves. “Meghan has been doing regular exercise as a way of beating the stress,” says a source. “She goes jogging around the park most days and starts every morning with some yoga and a meditation.”

While she and Harry have both practically quit drinking as part of their healthy pre-wedding regime (Harry has also quit smoking for Meghan), the actress is partial to a glass of red wine in the evenings to help her unwind.

It is also going to be an exciting day for little Jasper George Galloway Dyer who has been asked to be a page boy on the big day. The 5-year-old son of Prince Harry’s close friend, Mark Dyer, is rumored to be one of Prince Harry’s godsons, and will join Prince George, who will also feature as one of the couple’s page boys, presumably. While Kensington Palace has not announced the details of the bridal party, the Dyers have excitedly been telling friends that their son Jasper will have a “starring role” on May 19.

Dyer is a former equerry to Prince Charles who became a mentor to Prince Harry in the years after Princess Diana’s death. It was Dyer who suggested Harry travel to Lesotho in his gap year and the two have been close ever since.

Full ScreenPhotos:Prince Harry and Meghan Markle: A Guide to Their Public Displays of Affection

The Whisper. Pictured here at the Invictus Games, Harry has a secret for one person only. (Meghan Markle is that one person, if it wasn’t abundantly clear from the photograph.)

Photo: By Karwai Tang/WireImage.

The Quick Peck. Still pre-engagement at this point, these two look like college students at a late-night frat party (uh, in the most glamorous sense).

Photo: By Karwai Tang/WireImage.

The Double Hand-Hold. For their official engagement announcement, Markle clutched Harry with both hands, positioned just so for her ring to be on full display.

Photo: By Karwai Tang/WireImage.

The Resilient Hand-Hold. No obstacle—no poles, metaphorical or literal—are going to get in the way of their love.

Photo: By Jane Barlow/AFP/Getty Images.

The Bag Raise. Here, Markle and Harry demonstrate how to take care of business (fix hair, check blazer pocket, easily wield a handbag) all while, yes, holding hands.

Photo: Left, by Karwai Tang/WireImage; Right, by Samir Hussein/WireImage.

The Shoulder Pat. Perhaps understanding the challenges of having to make brief small talk with throngs of supporters, Harry checks in, affectionately, to see how his fiancée is doing.

Photo: By Chris Jackson/Getty Images.

The Let the Other Shine. Sometimes the focus is going to be on just one of the two, and both of them instinctively know when to let attention fall on the other—as Harry does here.

Photo: By Chris Jackson/Getty Images.

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