WE DIDN’T GET MARRIED IN SECRET
At last, after THAT bizarre TV claim, proof recollections do indeed vary
SHE had claimed that she and Prince Harry were actually married in a secret ceremony three days before their official royal wedding.
But now the much-derided ‘revelation’ the Duchess of Sussex made in her notorious television interview with Oprah Winfrey has finally been shot down – by the couple themselves.
Meghan told Miss Winfrey that she and Harry had got married ‘just the two of us in our backyard with the Archbishop of Canterbury’.
The claim was heavily disputed, not least because two witnesses are needed for a legal marriage to take place.
Now a spokesman for the couple has finally officially confirmed to US online publication the Daily Beast that the backyard ‘ceremony’ was not as supposed.
The website wrote: ‘A spokesperson for the couple conceded on Monday that “the couple exchanged personal vows a few days before their official/legal wedding on May 19”. That backyard exchange of personal vows does not constitute marriage.’
The clarification will be seen as an awkward climbdown by the couple, who have faced challenges to a number of the explosive claims they made in the two-hour broadcast.
Buckingham Palace also issued a statement on behalf of the Queen in reference to claims of racism and the way they handled Meghan’s apparent mental health issues, saying: ‘Recollections may vary.’
In this instance the facts, however, were very clear. Meghan, 39, said in the interview: ‘You know, three days before our wedding, we got married. No one knows that. The vows that we have framed in our room are just the two of us in our backyard with the Archbishop of Canterbury.’
She told Miss Winfrey that they felt their official wedding at Windsor Castle would be a public spectacle, so they asked the Archbishop for his help.
Harry chimed in, adding it was ‘just the three of us’. The suggestion that the couple’s formal ceremony, which took place in front of 600 invited guests – including Miss Winfrey, a friend of the couple – at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, on May 19, 2018, and was watched on television by millions, was effectively a ‘sham’ sparked criticism and calls for Archbishop Justin Welby to clarify the situation.
A spokesman for the Archbishop’s office said: ‘The Archbishop does not comment on personal or pastoral matters.’
But clerics were happy to speak about the matter. The Rev Mark
Edwards, who was flooded with private wedding requests during lockdown, contacted the Archbishop’s office after the claims to ‘get some clarity’ on their policy.
Mr Edwards, vicar at St Matthew’s Church in Dinnington and St Cuthbert’s Church in Brunswick, Tyne and Wear, said he was told by a Lambeth Palace staff member: ‘Justin does not do private weddings. Meghan is an American, she does not understand. Justin had a private conversation with the couple in the garden about the wedding, but I can assure you, no wedding took place until the televised national event.’ Many pointed out that during any valid ceremony, the public must have unrestricted access to allow for objections. At the time, Harry and Meghan were living in the grounds of Kensington Palace, off limits to the public.
Several media publications subsequently quoted a ‘source’ close to the couple acknowledging that they merely exchanged vows but this is the first official admission. It comes after a newspaper published a copy of their marriage certificate confirming the legal ceremony took place on May 19, 2018.
It also quoted Stephen Borton, a former chief clerk who helped to draw up their marriage licence, saying: ‘I’m sorry, but Meghan is obviously confused and clearly misinformed. What I suspect they did was exchange some simple vows they had perhaps written themselves, and which is fashionable, and said that in front of the Archbishop.’
‘Just the three of us’