As the third anniversary of Meghan’s wedding to Prince Harry approaches, makeup artist Daniel Martin, the acclaimed beauty stylist behind her radiant complexion and no-makeup makeup look, looks back on his longtime friend’s May 19, 2018, wedding to Prince Harry at St. George’s Chapel.

Speaking to People, Martin publicly recalled sitting in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, where the wedding was held, while the Kingdom Choir sang Ben E. King’s “Stand by Me.”  The gravity of the situation became clear when he realized he was at a royal wedding for soon-to-be Duchess Meghan, a woman of color, listening to gospel music sung by likely the first Black group to perform at a royal wedding in the institution’s millennium history.

In terms of his personal participation in the wedding, Martin said that it had never occurred to him that he, too, had accomplished a historical milestone for the AAPI community. “My participation in it as an Asian American—I didn’t really think about it,” Martin told People. “For me, it was just helping my friends feel as beautiful and comfortable on her wedding day. I’ve never thought about it in that context, but now you bring that up, what an incredible opportunity to just let everyone know or just show people, hey, we are a global society.”

As an Asian-American, he marveled at the diversity, despite the fact that there was only one other person of Asian origin present — and she worked for the palace.

“I just remember being in the church. I was sitting in the back where the choir was at. When they started singing, it literally resonated through our bodies. I remember sitting there and taking it in. “Wow, what an incredible opportunity to have such diversity in this particular church.” That type of music, those voices had never been sung in that church before. The centuries of the family, the centuries of people who started in that church or who had services in that church were predominantly Caucasian. And then, here’s this one moment where this harmony of humanity happened — that completely changed the world at that moment. I mean, for you to put it in that context, it’s kind of blowing my mind because I didn’t even think about that. I’m just thinking about what other Asian people were at her wedding. I literally only saw one other person and she worked for the palace. And Priyanka [Chopra] and Janina [Gavankar] in terms of Asian women, but I don’t remember seeing another Asian male.”

While Martin is keeping other big-day secrets close to his heart, such as the precise materials he used to create Meghan’s look, his feelings about being eternally associated with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding remain unchanged (he is frequently referred to as Meghan’s makeup artist). “Meghan and I, we talk about this all the time. I’m always going to be that person, how some people are, I’m always going to be Meghan Markle’s makeup artist for the rest of my life,” he shared. “Which is totally fine because we’re friends. I think if we didn’t have a personal connection, it would definitely be different. It’s wild that we’re coming on three years [since the wedding] and I will forever get asked.”

“And I think it’s not bad. It’s because I’ve never spoken publicly about what it is I used on her [for the wedding]. That’s always going to be the mystery. That’s always going to come up, but it is all good. I’m just really fortunate that I was part of that celebration of my friend’s wedding. That’s just, I guess that’s just how it is. It’s like Mario [Dedivanovic] with Kim Kardashian or Sir John who is Beyoncé’s makeup artist.

“There’s always going to be that tie-in with the person, which is totally fine. It’s not a bad thing. At the end of the day, I was my own person before that. I have been very fortunate too. My career evolved from that as well. It is what it is. It’s not about the association. I’m just grateful that there’s still a personal tie to the person at the end of the day.”

The famous makeup artist, who has worked with Bella Hadid, Jessica Alba, and Gemma Chan, first met Meghan at the Upfronts in New York City in 2011. Martin claims that they hit it off right away and that he quickly became her go-to guy for press tours and picture sessions.