MARKLE TO SPARKLE IN CARRIAGE PROCESSION
BRITAIN: Meghan Markle will be the most modern of royal brides but on her big day she will take part in that most old-fashioned of royal traditions: a carriage procession with her new husband.
She and Prince Harry, expected to be given the titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex, will be driven through the streets of Windsor immediately after the ceremony on May 19 to give the thousands who have descended on the town a chance to see the newly weds.
The carriage procession was announced by Kensington Palace, which said in a statement: ‘‘They hope this short journey will provide an opportunity for more people to come together around Windsor and to enjoy the atmosphere of this special day.’’
They will be following royal tradition: when the Duke of Cambridge married Catherine Middleton they were driven from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace in the 1902 State Landau, the carriage used for the weddings of the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer, and the Duke of York and Sarah Ferguson. They will be accompanied by a mounted escort of the Household Cavalry.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, will marry the couple at St George’s Chapel, with the service due to start at noon. The carriage procession will begin an hour later, leaving Windsor Castle via Castle Hill and proceeding along the High Street and through Windsor Town, returning to the castle along the Long Walk.
Markle, 36, is said to have turned to the reality TV star Millie Mackintosh to help to organise the wedding.
The ceremony is being held on the same day as the FA Cup final, which the Duke of Cambridge would normally attend in his role as president of the Football Association to present the trophy. The palace has insisted the two events ‘‘will not clash’’.
St George’s Chapel was used for the blessing of Prince Charles’s wedding to Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005, and will also be the venue for the wedding of Harry’s cousin, Princess Eugenie, to Jack Brooksbank in October.
The carriage procession for the prince and his bride will be followed by a reception for 800 guests at St George’s Hall. The choice of venue means there will be no opportunity for that royal wedding day staple, the kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
In the evening there will be a second reception, hosted by the Prince of Wales, for the couple and their close friends and family. Kensington Palace declined to reveal where it would be held. One suggestion is Frogmore House, in the grounds of Windsor Great Park.
The second reception has been described as an ‘‘informal dinner’’ followed by a party for up to 600 guests. ‘‘It’s going to be a much more relaxed and fun event but there will still be speeches given at the dinner, so the guests will very much feel like they are part of the big day,’’ a source said.
There have been conflicting reports about whether the Duchess of York, separated from the duke since 1992, will be invited. It has been suggested she could be invited to the evening reception, which many senior royals will not attend.