‘I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you’

In the end they stood there, man and woman, duke and duchess, husband and wife. A thoroughly modern pair from radically differing backgrounds united by a mutual affection that on Saturday they shared in abundance with millions around the world.

All were transfixed, for richer or poorer, by the simplest of spectacles: the wedding of a couple in love.

‘‘There is power in love,’’ declared Bishop Michael Curry, the American pastor whose volcanic wedding sermon made Britain’s latest royal extravaganza quite unlike any before it.

‘‘Do not underestimate it,’’ Curry went on. ‘‘Anyone who has ever fallen in love knows what I mean.’’

It was not just that Harry and Meghan presided over a flawless spectacle that confirmed Britain’s reputation for matchless pageantry. As their guests partied into the small hours of this morning, the new Duke and Duchess of Sussex could look back on a mission triumphantly accomplished.

There had been moments when family upsets and divisions threatened to overshadow the Windsor Castle wedding; yet the couple got hitched without any serious mishap and even the loquacious Curry found a way to conclude his rambling peroration.

‘‘We got to get you all married,’’ he cheerily told the couple.

The service was soon over and the prince and his new bride kissed on the steps of the chapel in front of a delirious crowd.

Their passion for each other was unmistakable, and some of the guests at the afternoon reception confirmed that, for all its well-charted mishaps of the past, the royal family might just be onto a winner with Meghan.

‘‘The Prince of Wales gave the most lovely, moving speech welcoming Meghan to the family,’’ a friend of Harry’s told The Sunday

Times. ‘‘He was incredibly loving and touching about Harry and spoke of how his son had grown into a ‘big man with a big heart’.’’

When it was Harry’s turn, he paid tributes to Meghan and initially appeared confused by the laughter that greeted his references to ‘‘my wife’’. He told his new duchess: ‘‘I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.’’

Thomas Markle, the bride’s father who had heart surgery last week, told a US website: ‘‘My baby looks beautiful.’’ He also spoke of his frustration at missing the wedding: ‘‘I will always regret not being able to be there and not being able to hold my daughter’s hand.’’

Harry moved some guests to tears when he said Meghan had ‘‘navigated everything with such grace’’ and added: ‘‘We make such a great team.’’

GETTY IMAGES Prince Harry and Meghan Markle kiss on the steps of St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle after their wedding in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.

GETTY IMAGES Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Jessica Mulroney, Ivy Mulroney, Florence van Cutsem, Zoe Warren, Zalie Warren, Benita Litt, Remy Litt and Rylan Litt arrive for the wedding.

GETTY IMAGES Abigail Spencer, left, and Priyanka Chopra arrive at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

GETTY IMAGES Meghan Markle arrives for the wedding ceremony to marry Prince Harry at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.

GETTY IMAGES Meghan Markle with her mother Doria Ragland drive down the Long Walk as they arrive at Windsor Castle ahead of her wedding.