Meghan Markle's 'axed' employee had key role at Royal Wedding and became 'mystery woman'

When Meghan Markle and Prince Harry shared behind the scenes photos from their Royal Wedding to celebrate their first anniversary, fans were fascinated by one of the guests.

One of the beautiful black and white snaps showed the bride being handed her stunning bouquet just moments before she walked down the aisle to meet her future husband.

But who was this mystery woman?

Some thought it was her future sister-in-law the Duchess of Cambridge, whereas others were convinced it was the Queen's assistant private secretary Samantha Cohen.

However after much debate it was discovered that the woman was actually Clara Loughran, Harry's long term programme co-coordinator.

The 32-year-old, who is from New Zealand, helped plan the couple's big day as well as accompanying them on their Royal Tour of Australia, Fiji and Tonga.

However Clara is one of the 15 members of Meghan and Harry's staff who face the axe after the couple decided to close the UK office.

It's the surest sign to date that they plan to base themselves in Canada and spend little time in the UK.

They broke the devastating news last month, and while a couple of the team may be given roles elsewhere in the Royal Household the majority will be on the hunt for a new job.

The team were said to be "shocked" by the Megxit announcement, which hit the headlines today, but they've shown a final act of loyalty through this difficult time.

A source told the Daily Mail: "The Duke and Duchess have a small team, less than 15 people. The team are very loyal to the Sussexes and understand and respect the decision they have taken. They are all close and supporting each other.

 "Given their decision to step back, an office at Buckingham Palace is no longer needed. While the details are still being finalised and efforts are being made to redeploy people within the royal household, unfortunately there will be some redundancies."

Rather than just saying their goodbyes, the team have spent their last few weeks tirelessly working to help Meghan and Harry set up their future lives.

The source added: "The team are busy helping to set their Royal Highnesses up for the future and working on a series of final engagements."

Meghan and Harry have already told the Queen, Charles and William about their decision to close the office and make redundancies.