How to Get Meghan Markle's Royal Wedding Hair at Home

Of all the details from 19 May 2018, it is the hair that quietly did the most work. Meghan Markle’s wedding hair was not a towering, tiara-first confection. It was something softer: a loosely swept-back style, tucked gently behind one ear, that let the veil and Queen Mary’s Diamond Bandeau Tiara take centre stage rather than compete with them. The effect was so unfussy that it looked almost effortless, which is precisely why it has stayed so influential with brides nearly a decade on.

It wasn’t effortless, of course. It was the work of one specific hairstylist, on one specific morning, at Kensington Palace, and getting the credit right matters, because more than one name has been attached to Meghan’s hair over the years. Here is exactly how the look was built, and how to bring a version of it home.

The stylist behind the look: Serge Normant

The wedding-morning style, the one broadcast to a global audience as Meghan stepped into the car for St George’s Chapel, Windsor, was created by Serge Normant, a French-born, New York-based celebrity hairstylist whose client list also includes Sarah Jessica Parker, Julia Roberts and Gisele Bündchen. Normant and Meghan had reportedly known each other for about a year by that point, having met through mutual friends, which likely explains the calm, unhurried atmosphere both later described.

By his own account, the ceremony style took around 45 minutes to create and was, in his words, one of the more straightforward jobs of his career, helped, he said, by a bride who was chatty and visibly at ease rather than nervous. Normant styled Meghan’s hair at Kensington Palace that morning, working with her natural texture rather than against it, which is a large part of why the finished look reads as polished rather than engineered.

Inside the technique: the swept-back half-up style

Structurally, the ceremony style is a low, gathered half-up shape rather than a full updo. The hair is smoothed back from a centre parting, taken low at the nape of the neck, and secured in a soft, slightly undone knot, sometimes described as a “messy bun,” though the wedding-morning version was considerably neater and closer to the head than that phrase suggests. Seen from the front, it looks deceptively simple: a centre part, a few loose face-framing pieces, hair tucked behind the ears. Seen from the side, particularly once the veil lifted, the construction beneath is more considered, built to anchor a tiara and a five-metre veil without shifting for hours of ceremony, photographs and carriage procession.

The key technical choice was restraint. Normant used minimal volume at the crown and avoided any hard, lacquered lines, which is what let the finished style photograph as romantic rather than formal. For anyone recreating it, this is the detail to hold onto: the wedding-hair look is built on smoothness and control, not on height or elaborate braiding.

The all-important ear tuck

If one single detail defines this hairstyle, it’s the ear tuck. Rather than pinning every strand away from the face, Normant left soft, face-framing pieces and tucked them behind the ears, a small, deliberate imperfection that stopped the style from reading as stiff. It is also, practically, what allowed the tiara to sit forward on the head without fighting a wall of pinned hair underneath it.

Getting this right at home means resisting the urge to smooth away every loose strand. Leave two thin pieces at the temples unpinned and tuck them behind the ears rather than pinning them flat. That single choice, deliberate looseness at the ears, control everywhere else, is what separates a convincing recreation from a stiff, pageant-style updo.

Styling around Queen Mary’s tiara and the veil

Meghan wore the Queen Mary Diamond Bandeau Tiara, made in 1932 and loaned to her personally by Queen Elizabeth II for the day. It is an unusual piece: a flexible band of diamonds rather than a traditional peaked tiara, with a detachable brooch element at the centre, sitting low and close to the head rather than rising above it. That shape is precisely why the low, swept-back style worked so well: a bandeau needs hair smoothed and controlled where it sits, with no bulk pushing it forward.

Beneath it, Meghan wore a five-metre silk tulle veil, hand-embroidered with 53 flowers representing each country of the Commonwealth alongside California’s state flower, the golden poppy, a nod to her home state. The hairstyle had to anchor both pieces securely enough to survive a carriage procession through Windsor, which is why the base of the style sits low and firmly pinned at the nape, even though the finished look reads as loose.

Serge Normant, not George Northwood: getting the credit right

It’s an easy mix-up, and worth clearing up properly. George Northwood, the London-based hairstylist behind Meghan’s now-famous everyday “messy bun,” is by far her better-known, longer-running stylist in the UK press, but he was not behind the ceremony look on 19 May 2018. That credit belongs to Serge Normant.

Northwood’s documented relationship with Meghan begins later that same day, styling her hair into a looser, low bun for the evening reception at Frogmore House, when she changed into a bespoke Stella McCartney gown. His role as her regular go-to stylist for public appearances, including the loose waves seen throughout the fifteen-day royal tour of Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand in October 2018, became widely reported only in the months after the wedding, not before it. So while Northwood shaped much of Meghan’s hair story across 2018 and beyond, the specific style people search for as “Meghan’s wedding hair”, the ceremony look, under the veil and tiara, is Serge Normant’s work alone.

How to recreate the look at home

Start on dry or slightly damp, freshly washed hair with a lightweight, humidity-resistant product worked through from mid-lengths to ends. This is a smooth style, and frizz is the main enemy. Blow-dry with a round brush, directing everything backward and slightly downward from a centre part, rather than adding lift at the root.

Once dry, gather the hair low at the nape, leaving two narrow face-framing sections free at the temples. Smooth the gathered section with a fine-tooth comb and a touch of pomade or smoothing serum before securing it into a soft, slightly loose low bun or knot. The goal is a shape that looks gathered rather than pinned. Take the two loose front sections, smooth them back with your fingers, and tuck each one behind an ear rather than pinning it away. Finish with a light-hold hairspray, brushed on rather than sprayed directly, to avoid any shine or stiffness. If you’re adding a veil, comb or headpiece, secure it at the crown before the final pinning of the bun, so the base sits firm underneath it, exactly as Normant would have needed to for several hours of ceremony and photographs.

The products and tools worth the investment

Three tools do almost all the work: a boar-bristle round brush for a smooth, frizz-free blow-dry; a lightweight smoothing serum or pomade, used sparingly at the crown and more generously on the gathered section; and fine bobby pins matched to your hair colour, so the pinning disappears rather than glints under photographs. A flexible-hold hairspray, rather than a stiff, high-shine one, keeps the finished style soft enough to read as bridal rather than corporate, fittingly, a look built on restraint rather than equipment.

A style built to last

Part of why this hairstyle has endured in bridal searches for nearly a decade is that it asks so little of the wearer. There is no elaborate braiding to master and no style so fixed it can’t move naturally through an embrace or a gust of wind on the chapel steps. It photographs beautifully precisely because it doesn’t try to be the main event, which, on a day with a tiara and a five-metre veil already doing plenty of talking, was exactly the point Serge Normant seems to have understood.

Frequently asked questions

Who did Meghan Markle’s hair for her wedding?

Serge Normant, a French-born celebrity hairstylist, created Meghan Markle’s wedding-morning hairstyle on 19 May 2018 at Kensington Palace, ahead of the ceremony at St George’s Chapel, Windsor.

Did George Northwood style Meghan’s wedding hair?

No. George Northwood styled Meghan’s hair for the evening reception at Frogmore House later that same day, and went on to become her regular hairstylist afterwards, but the ceremony look was created by Serge Normant.

What hairstyle did Meghan Markle wear at her wedding?

A low, softly swept-back half-up style, gathered at the nape into a loose, undone knot, with two face-framing pieces left loose and tucked behind the ears.

How long did it take to style Meghan’s wedding hair?

Serge Normant has said the style took around 45 minutes to create, describing the process as one of the more straightforward jobs of his career.

What tiara did Meghan Markle wear with her wedding hairstyle?

She wore the Queen Mary Diamond Bandeau Tiara, made in 1932 and loaned to her by Queen Elizabeth II, a flexible diamond band with a detachable centre brooch, worn low and close to the head.

Can I recreate Meghan’s wedding hairstyle without extensions?

Yes. The style relies on smoothness and a low, gathered shape rather than volume or length, which makes it achievable on most hair types and lengths with a round brush, smoothing product and fine bobby pins.

What products give the smooth, swept-back finish Meghan’s style has?

A lightweight smoothing serum or pomade on damp hair before blow-drying, followed by a flexible-hold hairspray brushed rather than sprayed directly, keeps the finish soft rather than stiff or overly shiny.

Is the ear-tuck detail hard to get right at home?

Not especially. The key is leaving two thin, unpinned sections at the temples and smoothing them behind the ears by hand rather than pinning them flat, so a little natural softness remains.

Details of Meghan Markle’s wedding-day styling are drawn from contemporaneous 2018 reporting and Serge Normant and George Northwood’s own public accounts of their work with her; for the definitive record of the day, see the Royal Household’s archive at royal.uk.