Harry’s big match clashes with FA Cup final
IT IS one of the greatest spectacles of British life: two perfectly matched sides watched by tens of thousands of people, all hoping for a happy outcome.
But away from the FA Cup final, the minor occasion of a royal wedding will be taking place. Some 20 miles away from Wembley, on Saturday May 19, Prince Harry will be marrying Meghan Markle at Windsor Castle.
One guest who might find this clash of dates particularly problematic is the Duke of Cambridge, who is likely to be his brother’s best man – but also happens to be the president of the Football Association, in which capacity he usually attends the Cup final and presents the trophy.
Next year, the FA has conceded, it will have to find someone else to do the honours, apparently resigned to the idea that the Duke is unlikely to make a mid-afternoon dash across London in order to watch the match, which in recent years has kicked off at 5.30pm. Prince Harry and Ms Markle are bucking royal tradition by choosing a Saturday to wed, but their choice allows them to avoid the contentious issue of whether or not the Government should declare a bank holiday.
Kensington Palace aides have already said that the wedding will reflect the couple’s “characters and personalities” and be a moment of “fun and joy”.
They will say “I do” in the 15th century St George’s Chapel. It is likely to be a morning ceremony, which would avoid a television clash with the Cup final, and will take place around a month after the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are due to welcome their third child.
The Royal family will be joined by Ms Markle’s parents Thomas Markle and Doria Ragland, while Prince George and Princess Charlotte are expected to be a pageboy and bridesmaid.
The wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is set for Saturday May 19. May can be lovely – eight hours’ sunshine, a 50-50 chance of rain, and flowers in profusion for the occasion. At home, most can watch without taking time off work. One little mayfly in the May ointment – it’s FA Cup Final day. Surely this is not a joke on Prince Harry’s elder brother, the President of the Football Association. After all, Prince Harry himself has a keen eye for football. Nor ought the players take to the field at the moment the bride walks through the Chapel of St George, Windsor. But since guests in the nave (cut off by the stalled choir from any sight of the altar) are likely to follow events on video screens in any case, in need, at some suitable lull such as the signing of the register, the latest highlights could easily be relayed.