Prince Harry, Meghan now husband & wife
WINDSOR, England: Britian’s Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle sealed their marriage with a kiss after a dazzling ceremony before a global audience of millions in a medieval chapel packed with royalty and celebrities.
Harry and Meghan were pronounced husband and wife by the Archbishop of Canterbury in a union that brought a measure of modern Hollywood glamour into the 1,000-year-old monarchy.
Markle entered the chapel unescorted, dressed in a flowing white gown created by British designer Clare Waight Keller and wearing a veil and diamond tiara.
In a ceremony that combined modernity and the ancient rituals of a royal house that dates back to 1066, Prince Charles, heir to the throne and Harry’s father, accompanied Markle to the altar from the middle of the chapel.
Harry, looking nervous, appeared to say: “Thanks, Pa” to Charles and “You look amazing!” to his bride. Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland, 61, shed tears. A gospel choir sang American soul singer Ben E. King’s 1960s hit ‘Stand by me’.
“There’s power in love,” black US bishop Michael Bruce Curry told a congregation that included Queen Elizabeth, senior royals and celebrities such as US mogul Oprah Winfrey, singer Elton John and former soccer star David Beckham.
“Do not underestimate it. Anyone who has ever fallen in love knows what I mean,” Curry told the congregation in a passionate, energetic address that quoted US civil rights leader Martin Luther King.
The newlyweds will be known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, putting them in the senior ranks of British royalty.
But alongside tradition, there was innovation, by British royal standards.
Markle, 36, did not vow to obey her husband; Harry, three years her junior, will wear a wedding ring – unlike other senior male royals.
The world’s media have been gripped by the occasion, and television channels beamed the ceremony across the world.