Spring wedding of ‘fun and joy’
BRITAIN: It will be a spring wedding on the glorious grounds of Windsor Castle for love-struck Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Royal officials – thrilled with the international response to news of the couple’s engagement, and the positive reaction to their first TV appearance – revealed a few key details yesterday but kept mum on others, such as who will be the prince’s best man?
The wedding will be in May, but the date has not been chosen, the prine’s communications secretary, Jason Knauf, told a packed briefing at Buckingham Palace.
‘‘In a happy moment in their lives, it means a great deal to them that so many people throughout the UK, the Commonwealth and around the world are celebrating with them,’' he said.
Knauf said Prince Harry’s grandmother, the Queen, had given permission for the couple to wed in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. He said the 91-year-old monarch will attend the wedding.
Windsor Castle, west of London, is one of the Queen’s favourite residences. St George’s, the 15thcentury chapel where the couple will wed, is more intimate than Westminster Abbey, where older brother, Prince William, married Kate Middleton in 2011.
Knauf said Windsor ‘‘is a very special place for Prince Harry’', and that he and Markle have regularly spent time there since they began dating about a year and a half ago. He said the wedding ‘‘will be a moment of fun and joy that will reflect the characters of the bride and groom’'.
The image-conscious royals also made clear in a statement that the royal family, not British taxpayers, will foot the bill. The family will pay for the church service, the music, the flowers, the decorations and the reception that follows.
Prine Harry’s press team is keeping some details private for the moment – perhaps because final decisions have not been made. It’s also not clear who will be the best man, though his brother would seem to be a strong contender.
Knauf also would not say whether Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby will preside over the service. And as for what titles will be given to Prince Harry and Markle, that will be decided by the Queen and revealed at a later date. –