Meghan goes solo
She’ll enter chapel alone... then Charles will walk her down second half of aisle (but WON’T give her away)
MEGHAN Markle will today make a bold declaration of independence by walking into St George’s Chapel alone for her wedding to Prince Harry.
The avowed feminist will be accompanied only for the second half of her walk down the aisle, with Prince Charles stepping in at the 11th hour to replace her father.
In a further break with tradition, Charles will not formally give her away. Instead, he will simply ‘accompany’ her to the altar.
Last night, US-born Ms Markle, 36, and her mother Doria Ragland, 61, arrived at the Cliveden House Hotel, brimming with happiness and excitement. Asked how she felt, she beamed: ‘Wonderful, thank you.’
Both looked glamorous after meeting Queen Elizabeth, with Ms Markle in a navy sleeveless waterfall dress and heels, and her mother, who normally favours more casual outfits, in a cream dress and black jacket, with her braids in a headband.
Meanwhile, Prince Harry, 33, and his brother and best man Prince William took an impromptu walkabout outside Windsor Castle, before heading to their lodgings for the night at nearby Coworth Park.
Handed a teddy bear, Harry, who had neatly trimmed his beard in readiness, said: ‘Great. I can’t wait!’
As royal wedding fever spread, with more than a billion people expected to watch worldwide, it also emerged that: Thomas Markle’s absence was so last-minute that his name is still in the order of service; The ceremony will mix traditional with modern – as well as hymns, the couple have chosen a gospel choir to sing Ben E King’s soul classic Stand By Me and Amen/This Little Light of Mine by Etta James; They will promise to love, comfort, honour and protect one another, but not obey – sources told the Mail that Ms Markle has been practising her vows by recording herself reciting them and listening to them over and over again; The hymn Guide Me, O Thy Great Redeemer, which was played at the funeral of Harry’s late mother, Princess Diana, will be sung; Unlike his brother William, Prince Harry will wear a wedding ring; Buckingham Palace confirmed the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, who will attend despite his recent operation, had tea with Ms Ragland, Ms Markle and Prince Harry at Windsor Castle in the afternoon; Meghan’s father was reported as saying he was ‘honoured and grateful’ that Prince Charles was ‘giving his daughter away’ and would watch on TV, after pulling out of the ceremony with heart problems; A large security operation saw police manning barricades outside Windsor Castle and snipers on roofs, with well-wishers asked not to throw confetti today after it was branded a ‘security risk’.
At the end of a dramatic week, sources said Harry and Meghan just wanted to focus on their big day.
‘They are just so in love and while it has been a hugely emotional week for Meghan in terms of her father, who she is still deeply concerned about, they now want to focus on the day,’ they said. ‘It’s a huge moment for them .’
Another added: ‘Honestly, I have never seen him so happy. He is just besotted and cannot wait to make Meghan his wife.’
With Mr Markle, a former Hollywood lighting director, recovering from surgery to fit a heart stent, Kensington Palace announced yesfamily terday that Prince Charles would walk his future daughter-in-law to the altar. Sources close to the prince, who will wear a morning suit, said he was ‘deeply touched’ to have been asked. ‘It wasn’t something he raised at all…the couple came to him,’ they said. The source added that Charles had met Ms Markle several times and appeared to have struck up a very ‘genuine bond’ with her and now her mother.
Both he and Camilla seemed delighted by their meeting with Ms Ragland on Wednesday at Clarence House.
Ms Markle has always insisted she wanted to arrive at the chapel on her own, even when her father was involved. She was also insistent that she would not be ‘given away’.
It is believed that, as a divorcée in her 30s and a feminist, the future royal believed it wasn’t appropriate. At noon today, Charles will await her at the start of the quire, halfway down the 15th-century chapel, instead of the steps of the building.
Ms Markle will arrive in the castle’s quadrangle with her mother at about 11.25am in one of the Queen’s cars. Ms Ragland, a social worker and yoga instructor, is believed to be the only member of Ms Markle’s attending. Ms Ragland will then transfer to another vehicle and be driven to the Galilee porch, used by the royal family, where she will arrive shortly before Charles and the Queen.
Ms Markle will be joined by her bridesmaids and page boys, including Prince George and Princess Charlotte – and will be greeted at the steps to the West Door, decorated with exquisite spring blooms, by the Dean of Windsor, who will walk ahead of her into the church.
Last night, Mr Markle told US website TMZ he gave the arrangements his blessing. He said he was ‘honoured and grateful’ Charles had stepped in and his daughter had called him personally to tell him.
Kensington Palace said: ‘The Order of Service was produced before it became clear Mr Thomas Markle would be unable to attend the wedding … some aspects will be different to what has been printed.’
The ceremony will use the words from the Marriage Service from Common Worship (2000), which features modern language, such as ‘you’ rather than ‘thee’ or ‘thou’.
Yesterday, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who will officiate, said Prince Charles was ‘someone of great care and affection’. He added: ‘He’s a very warm person and doing this is a sign of his love and concern and support. I think it’s wonderful. It’s beautiful.’
Bishop Michael Curry, primate of the US Episcopal Church, who will give an address, said ‘different worlds are being brought together’ by the marriage.
‘I feel wonderful’
SOME curmudgeons may object, but the vast majority of the country will either watch today’s royal wedding – or at least wish the bride and groom well.
It is not just people’s historical fascination with princes and princesses and love stories, dating back far beyond the existence of the Windsors or even of Britain as a nation: it is not just the extraordinary meeting of pomp and circumstance with soap-opera plotlines.
It is also the fact that in Prince Harry, we see a young man who lost his beloved mother in horrifying circumstances, who has had to grow up in a goldfish bowl while trying both to hide and to face his trauma.
And, quite simply, we’d like to see him get a happy ending.
So we wish him and his bride a wonderful day and many, many years of wedded bliss.