Meghan's first date dress was her 'something blue'

Meghan was reunited with her dress for an ITV documentary

The Duchess of Sussex has revealed that a piece of a dress worn on her first date with Prince Harry was her "something blue" for her wedding.

Brides traditionally collect something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue to bring them good luck as they tie the knot.

She also revealed she only saw her veil for the first time on her wedding day.

Meghan was looking back over the dress worn for her "magical day" in a new ITV documentary.

The two part programme - Queen Of The World - examines the Queen's role on the global stage.

In it, the duchess told the programme that her "something blue" was stitched somewhere inside the gown.

"It's fabric from the dress that I wore on our first date," she said.

She was reunited with her outfit at Buckingham Palace as it was prepared for a new exhibition.

The duchess said she trusted Givenchy dress designer Clare Waight Keller so much that she only saw her veil - embroidered with flowers from each of the 53 Commonwealth nations - on the morning of the wedding.

"I knew that it would be a fun surprise as well for my now husband, who didn't know, and he was really over the moon to find out that I would make this choice for our day together.

"And I think the other members of the family had a similar reaction, and just appreciation for the fact that we understand how important this is for us and the role that we play."

She added: "It's nice to see it again. It's beautiful."

The royal wedding dress is to feature in a new exhibition

The veil featured embroidered wild flowers from each of the Commonwealth's 53 countries

The couple were married at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle on 19 May.

Meghan and Harry will begin their first major Commonwealth tour in October travelling to Australia, New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji.

The Duchess of Cambridge also reportedly had "something blue" stitched into her wedding dress in 2011. Designer Sarah Burton is said to have sewed a blue ribbon on to the inside of the dress.

'A little secret'

BBC News website readers have been in touch with their own "something blue" stories.

Kelly Shirt said she had a Chelsea Football Club badge stitched on the inside of her dress.

The emblem was taken from one of her father's old shirts, which Kelly said was "special to me as from age 12 took he used to take me to watch Chelsea play regularly".

Sarah Skelton said her "something blue" was a way of marking a moment of grief, but brought her "enormous comfort on the big day".

"I had four little blue ribbons stitched into the underside of my hem, one for each of my four ectopic pregnancies," she said.

Sarah had been left infertile by the final pregnancy five months earlier.

"Our babies were with us, and it was a little secret just for me and my husband," she added.

"Five years later, we've shared it with friends and they feel just as glad as we did that we chose to mark the babies' brief rays of light into our lives in such a special way."